- Title: U.S. state agriculture delegation travels to Cuba despite Trump´s rollback
- Date: 22nd June 2017
- Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (JUNE 22, 2017) (REUTERS) LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA, TINA SMITH, AND AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER OF MINNESOTA, DAVE FREDERICKSON, WALKING OUTSIDE THE NATIONAL HOTEL VARIOUS OF SMITH SPEAKING TO FREDERICKSON (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA, TINA SMITH, SAYING: "I disagree with his (Donald Trump's) announcement, everybody in our delegation does. We believe that we should move forward on trade and building relationships with Cuba and normalising and modernising our relationships with Cuba. So, to be here this week and to be able to emphasise that point has been extremely helpful. And Cubans are concerned about this. They are worried about the impact that it will have on their hopes to continue to reform their economy and to build relationships with a country that is only 90 miles away from them". SMITH SPEAKING TO PEOPLE IN THE HOTEL CLOSE-UP OF SMITH SMILING (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA, TINA SMITH, SAYING: "Cubans appreciate what I think everybody should appreciate, which is that President's (Trump's) statements last week very clearly exempted agriculture as from part of what is undeniably a roll back, and that's important. I think they understand that and want to keep focused on that. And in many ways, our state is a perfect trading partner with Cuba just like much of the United States is a perfect trading partner with Cuba. In Minnesota we don't have a lot of cocoa, or coffee or pineapple but we do have a lot of corn and beans, and we need each other's products".
- Embargoed: 6th July 2017 17:17
- Keywords: United States Cuba Donald Trump Minnesota agriculture Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota Tina Smith
- Location: HAVANA AND QUIVICAN, MAYABEQUE, CUBA
- City: HAVANA AND QUIVICAN, MAYABEQUE, CUBA
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016MD299H
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: U.S. businesses and states will continue to engage with Cuba in the areas they can, like agricultural trade despite U.S. President Donald Trump's partial rollback of the detente, the lieutenant governor of Minnesota said on Thursday (June 22).
Tina Smith, the first U.S. state representative to make an official visit to Cuba since Trump's announcement on Friday (June 16), said Cuban authorities were worried about the setback to bilateral relations.
Leading a bipartisan trade delegation from Minnesota, the lieutenant governor said she was therefore glad to carry them the message that there was still plenty of support for continuing to normalise relations.
Smith's delegation from Minnesota, one of the largest U.S. agriculture states, included its agriculture commissioner and the head of the corn growers association and aimed to improve ties to promote exports to Cuba.
U.S. farm groups have been particularly critical of Trump's decision to retreat from former President Barack Obama's opening towards Cuba, saying it could derail huge increase in agricultural exports that totalled $221 million dollars last year.
U.S. law exempts food from a decades-old embargo on U.S. trade with Cuba although cumbersome rules on how transactions were executed have made deals difficult and costly. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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