The Special Relationship and the Challenge of Export Diversification: Cuban Exports of Fruits and Vegetables to the United States, 1900 to 1962

Abstract

For almost sixty years, Cuban exports to the United States enjoyed an advantage not available to any other country: at least a 20 percent reduction in import duties on items subject to a US tariff. This article explores the extent to which Cuba was able to take advantage of this special relationship to diversify its agricultural exports to the United States. I argue that US trade preferences toward Cuba played different roles in different periods. The 1903 Reciprocity Convention provided the incentive for the development and growth of a number of nontraditional fruit and vegetable exports to the US market. The combination of growing US protectionism and expanding US production of similar crops cut short this trajectory, as did external shocks. The 1934 Reciprocal Trade Agreement that granted these exports even more favorable duty concessions during the US winter season had a minimally positive effect. In the post–World War II period, the lack of supportive domestic policies, the rise of nontariff barriers to trade, and growing competition from Mexico also constrained the growth of these nontraditional exports. Thus, Cuban exports of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables to the United States rarely reached four percent of total exports, reflecting the dominant role of sugar.