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It& #39;s been sad to follow this tat for tat over past 2 weeks. This is an ok summary, but headline gets it wrong by leaving Q open-ended.
Yes, there are loopholes in embargo for sale of medical goods. No, they hardly remove all impediments for those sales. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-says-u-s-embargo-obstacle-getting-coronavirus-fighting-supplies-n1181711">https://www.nbcnews.com/news/lati...
Yes, there are loopholes in embargo for sale of medical goods. No, they hardly remove all impediments for those sales. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-says-u-s-embargo-obstacle-getting-coronavirus-fighting-supplies-n1181711">https://www.nbcnews.com/news/lati...
For details, numbers, and deep dive into regulations, see this piece. Best analysis I& #39;ve seen. https://www.cubatrade.org/blog/2020/4/11/gk4zhbsaymr1sgtknts7ed62sqxbsn">https://www.cubatrade.org/blog/2020...
Tldr: "Authorized" sales don& #39;t equal actual amount; general difficulty of banking transactions due to embargo overall disuades some U.S. companies from trying; US officials including DONATED goods in their claims for medical "exports" is particularly misleading.
Plus, third-country effects are sizable, especially if foreign pharma and medical device companies are bought out by U.S. corporations/investors.
I would add: It is pernicious/cumbersome/dissuasive enough that all medical sales from U.S. to Cuba aren& #39;t authorized by general license. Instead, they require specific authorization as well as end-use verification.
Q I have about article above is to what degree notable decline in actual (not "licensed") medical exports from peak of $6 million in 2016 to $1 million in 2019 is due to declining climate of US-Cuban relations under Trump administration or Cuba& #39;s diminished ability to pay.
Likely both, and they& #39;re likely related, in so far as other Trump sanctions have hurt Cuba& #39;s bottom line and foreign currency earnings it uses for imports.
Note that this imbroglio involved a US govt official criticizing "unsourced" allegations w/o providing/linking to any sources himself. https://twitter.com/WHAAsstSecty/status/1247225201336758273?s=20">https://twitter.com/WHAAsstSe...
I& #39;ll help. See this comprehensive 2017 report from US Intl Trade Commission on embargo& #39;s overall effects.
https://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4597.pdf">https://www.usitc.gov/publicati...
https://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4597.pdf">https://www.usitc.gov/publicati...
It describes history of regs. and how sales of medical supplies did grow as a portion of total U.S. exports to Cuba under Obama admin...
(Partly thanks, I& #39;m guessing, to greater willingness of banks to facilitate them under climate of normalization).
(Partly thanks, I& #39;m guessing, to greater willingness of banks to facilitate them under climate of normalization).
...but it is also clear that U.S. regulations/licensing requirements still constrain those sales—even as it also notes constrained Cuban purchasing power to ramp up imports exponentially if it wanted to.
(Again, for more up-to-date numbers, see Cubatrade post above.)
(Again, for more up-to-date numbers, see Cubatrade post above.)
Finally, see the following for a concrete example.
Admittedly, framing of this report could be seen as misleading, in so far as this happened months ago (h/t @elainediaz2003), not in direct response to a request made amid covid-19. https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=54492&SEO=us-blockade-makes-it-impossible-for-cuba-to-purchase-respirators">https://www.plenglish.com/index.php...
Admittedly, framing of this report could be seen as misleading, in so far as this happened months ago (h/t @elainediaz2003), not in direct response to a request made amid covid-19. https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=54492&SEO=us-blockade-makes-it-impossible-for-cuba-to-purchase-respirators">https://www.plenglish.com/index.php...
(See original announcement of blockage of ventilator sales in September here:) http://misiones.minrex.gob.cu/es/articulo/sistema-universal-de-salud-cubano-sufre-danos-millonarios-por-el-bloqueo-de-estados-unidos">https://misiones.minrex.gob.cu/es/articu...
