Havana, Feb 20: A senior Cuban trade official said the United States had become about the 10th-largest trading partner of communist-run Cuba despite Washington's 40-year-old trade embargo against the Caribbean island.
''Our food purchases from the United States were 189 million dollars last year,'' said Pedro Alvarez, chairman of state-run food importer Alimport yesterday.
Alvarez said that meant Cuba's enemy to the North was now ''around the 10th'' largest trading partner of the country, which in turn was ''about the 44th'' largest market for US farmers.
In 2000, the US Congress loosened the trade embargo against Cuba to allow for the sale of agricultural products for cash.
Alvarez said that by April of this year, Cuba would have purchased 255 million dollars in US agricultural products, including shipping costs.



Cuba imports about 1 billion dollars in food products each year.



Some 130 US businessmen and state officials were in Havana yesterday to discuss doing more trade, after meeting for two days in Cancun, Mexico, at a US -Cuba business conference.



Alvarez said he expected to sign ''dozens of millions of dollars'' in new contracts with them.



The US visitors toured tourism, energy, agriculture and other projects and were planning to dine with top Cuban officials, perhaps including President Fidel Castro, before returning to Mexico later yesterday.



''Cuba will be an important export market in the future and we look forward to that,'' IOWA secretary of agriculture Patty Judge said at a Havana news conference, which included officials from Kansas and Delaware.



The officials and other participants promised to push for a further loosening of US sanctions on Cuba, despite President George W. Bush's strong support for them.



''Our 5 million members want to see normal trade relations with Cuba,'' said Steve Apple, vice president of the American farm bureau. ''The past is past. It is time to step into the future.''


Bureau Report