What the ‘New Normal’ for U.S.-Cuba Business Relations May Look Like
What the ‘New Normal’ for U.S.-Cuba Business Relations May Look Like
AS/COA’s President and CEO Susan Segal and Policy Director Alana Tummino spoke to Wharton Business Radio about what's ahead for U.S.-Cuba business relations on the heels of the inaugural Cuba Opportunities Summit.
Following President Obama’s announced loosening of the trade embargo and other restrictions with Cuba, there has been a rash of speculation about what that could mean for businesses on both sides. Some observers think that full normalization of trade could come as early as this year. Susan Segal, president and CEO of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas (AS/COA), and Alana Tummino, policy director at the AS/COA, spoke about where things are heading and what the ‘new normal’ for U.S.-Cuba business relations might look like on the Knowledge @ Wharton show on Wharton Business Radio on SiriusXM channel 111.
An edited transcript of the conversation appears below.
Knowledge @ Wharton: Susan, when the announcement was made a few months ago that it looked like the U.S. and Cuba were once again going to have normal relations, what was your initial reaction?
Susan Segal: We were very, very excited, because we have been traveling to Cuba — we’ve been working on the Cuba issue now for over six years. We wrote seven steps that the U.S. government could actually do without lifting the embargo. We had taken two delegations, and Alana and another young group of people had gone on yet a third delegation. So when we saw the announcement that December morning — I actually heard about it on television — we were thrilled and very excited and pleased that the time had time.
Alana Tummino: This is an issue we’ve been working on very closely since we created our Cuba Working Group in 2007. This past year the momentum had definitely been building. And so we knew that there was going to be some big announcement from the White House after the midterm election. But I have to tell you, hearing that news in the morning that [detained American and USAID subcontractor] Alan Gross had boarded a plane and was on his way back from Havana to Washington, and that the president was slated to make a huge announcement at noon that day — … it was something that we’ve been working towards — exactly these types of goals — but, we were thrilled, and … taken by surprise that it happened when it did on December 17. And now, we’re just starting a long road of figuring out what this all means, and what the next steps are.....
