Cuban importers are anxious to resume purchases from the United States. The 

 quality of sardines from the five Latin American countries, particularly from 

 Peru and Venezuela, reportedly is not very good, and the landed cost is too 

 high for them to compete with American sardines/l. 



Canned salmon exports from the United States to Cuba dropped from an 

 average of 75,000 pounds in 1937-Ul to less than 6, $00 pounds in 1°U5. This 

 decline is all the more striking because in 192U, for example, ejports to 

 Cuba of canned salmon from the United States totaled over 660,000 pounds. The 

 war prevented the United States from taking advantage of the reduction in 

 duties from $0.13 to $0,039 net per kilo provided for in the supplementary 

 trade agreement of 1939. Most of the canned salmon imported to Cuba from 1937 

 to 19U1 came from the United States, but since I9U2 other countries have entered 

 the market on a small scale. In 19U5 Spain was the major supplier with 12,000 

 pounds or U5 percent of the total; Mexico and Peru followed with 2U percent. 

 The tunny reportedly has temporarily supplanted the American salmon - quantities 

 larger than heretofore were imported in 19U5 chiefly from Spain, Portugal and 

 Chile. As soon as American salmon again becomes available, imports from other 

 countries probably will lag behind. Appendix XVI shows imports of salmon and 

 tunny by countries of origin. 



Codfish and stockfish exports from the United States to Cuba in 192U 

 amounted to 3,750,000 pounds. In 1937-Ul they declined to less than 3 percent, 

 and by 19U5 dwindled to nothing. Prior to the war, Canada and Norway, followed 

 by Iceland, Great Britain and Newfoundland, were the chief participants in the 

 Cuban market. In 19U5, however, Canada alone supplied 2,120,000 pounds or 83 

 percent of all the codfish and stockfish imported into Cuba, probably because 

 of war allocations. The average import value from Canada was 1$ cents a pound 

 in 19UU and l£.3 cents in 19U5, as compared to 29.3 cents in 19UU from the 

 United States. 



Cubans prefer the fancy grades of Norwegian codfish and, to a lesser 

 degree, the British (Scotch) codfish, and it is probable that when these 

 countries can meet this potential demand they will again dominate the market. 

 Trade circles state that American codfish is not sufficiently cured and that 

 the mild cure to which the American trade is accustomed will not stand up in 

 Cuba's climate. The difference in price and quality, therefore, makes it dif- 

 ficult for American codfish to compete successfully. Table XVII lists Cuban 

 imports of codfish and stockfish by countries of origin. 



Fresh fish from the United States, which in 1937-Ul averaged 88,000 pounds, 

 no longer is imported into Cuba, but neither is it imported from any of the 

 other countries which formerly supplied small quantities, because domestic 

 competition and stiff regulations and taxation effectively bar imports. An 

 American exporter, in order to bring fresh fish in schooners into Cuba, must 

 pay pilotage, anchorage, clearance, customshouse fees, port charges, Public Works 

 tax, consular invoice fee, and other minor taxes. The lack of a ready market 

 constitutes a serious handicap in disposing quickly of imported fresh fish. 



Owing to the general scarcity of foodstuffs during the war, squid was 

 exported to Cuba from the United States and elsewhere in increased quantities. 

 Unstuffed squid exports from the United States totaled 1,350,000 pounds in 



7*1 — For backgr ound discussion, see report no. 155, August 22, 1933, "The 

 ~ Effect of Increased Cuban Tariffs upon Imports of Canned Fish from the 

 United States." 22 



