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Two years ago, the business with Cuba was good. Patrick Wallesen, the company鈥檚 president, says WestStar exported agricultural products through the port of Corpus Christi for more than a decade.
鈥淲e averaged about 5,000 metric tons a year of product. Primarily into beans, black beans, great northern beans,鈥� Wallesen says.
So how could an American food company export products to Cuba while a trade embargo was in place?
Through a complex series of maneuvers, Cuban importers would pay U.S. exporters through third-party country鈥檚 banks. But two years ago, that business just dried up.
鈥淭hey were paying through a third party, which they didn鈥檛 like,鈥� Wallesen says. 鈥淎nd part of it is because they didn鈥檛 like the terms to them 鈥� they just quit buying most U.S. products.鈥�
With , the U.S. embargo on Cuba may become a thing of the past sooner rather than later. Wallensen and other business owners are getting ready for the resetting of trade relations.
Cynthia Thomas is the president of the . It鈥檚 a group that goes around the state educating businesses on trading with Cuba. Thomas says Texas is poised to thrive when the embargo is lifted for a list of reasons that include the export hubs of Houston and Corpus Christi, and the state鈥檚 familiarity with Spanish. But she says there鈥檚 another big reason.
鈥淐uba has a certain warmth to Texas, in part because they get a lot of western movies that take place in Texas, that they see still on their TVs,鈥� Thomas says. 鈥淭exas has this sense of independence and pride in being Texan. It鈥檚 something that Cuba feels about their own country also, and they can relate to that.鈥�
Wallesen and Thomas have been keeping the lines of communication open with their Cuban trading partners. Both are planning trips to Cuba this month.
