Trade Embargo with Cuba

    In order to understand why exporting and importing is so important to keep a country running smoothly, here is some background information about the trade embargo between Cuba and the United States. In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew the president of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista. The United States knew the way Fidel Castro ran his country  and his outlook on the government. After Castro overthrew Batista the United States escalated economic retaliation by slashing Cuban sugar imports.  Later on when John F. Kennedy when into office, he expanded the retaliation into a full economic embargo. (Renwick) Citizens of the United States were also not allowed to travel to Cuba anymore. After the full economic embargo was put into place, shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred between the United States and Cuba. After 14 days, the crisis ended with an agreement that the sites would be dismantled if the United States pledged not to invade Cuba. (Renwick)
   After numerous years the diplomatic isolation between Cuba and the United States made its way into the U.S policy toward Cuba. Unfortunately, in 1992 the U.S strengthened the embargo with the Cuba Democracy Act. On April 11,2015 Barack Obama travelled to Cuba to meet with the current president Raul Castro and restored diplomatic relations once and for all.
   Both countries have suffered from lack of imports/exports with each other due to the long lasting embargo. It was estimated that the because of the stringent trade restrictions, the amounted loss was around 1.126 trillion dollars. Obama mentioned "Even if we lifted the embargo tomorrow, Cubans would not realize their potential without continued change here in Cuba". Due to the fact that Cuba is run by executive power, many citizens truly won't realize a change after the embargo is lifted. In the U.S on the other hand, there were new guidelines put into place about when you travel to Cuba. Some of the new guidelines are;

• Travelers to use U.S credit and debit cards (Renwick)
• U.S insurance companies to cover health, life, and travel insurance for individuals living in or visiting Cuba (Renwick)
• Banks to facilitate authorized transactions (Renwick)
• U.S companies to invest in some small businesses (Renwick)
• Shipments of building materials to private Cuban companies (Renwick)

  Regarding the exports and imports after the embargo has been lifted, theoretically speaking, the exports and imports should equally rise because what the U.S needs, Cuba has and what Cuba needs, the U.S has. I do not think net exports will exceed net imports since both countries need/want what each other has. Economic growth should grow with each country because now countries can trade, citizen of each other can travel to the other country, so the airline industry will also grow. Overall, since the embargo was recently just lifted, citizens and companies are excited to trade and give/ receive more items than they usually do. I feel that economy based on the theories stated above, the economy will continue to grow and not contract for a while. Lifting the trade embargo with Cuba will benefit both countries in the long run.

 Renwick, Lee, & McBride. (2016, March 24). U.S-Cuba Relations. Retrieved April 21, 2016, from http://www.cfr.org/cuba/us-cuba-relations/p11113