Many US food producers and manufacturers have expressed support for the renewal of diplomatic ties with Cuba. While the Obama Administration has established official ties to Havana, Republicans in Congress have generally balked at the idea of lifting the trade embargo.

The North American Meat Institute is among the trade groups urging a lifting of the embargo, saying it supports a bill pending in Congress that would remove the current prohibition against private financing for agricultural sales to Cuba.

Devry Boughner Vorwerk, a Cargill executive who is chair of the US Agriculture Coalition for Cuba, says agribusiness is firmly in the camp for lifting the trade embargo. She says her organization will work with Congress to open the US’s island neighbor to American agricultural products.