on December 20 2014 11:44 AM
A vendor smokes a cigar as he waits for customers at his coconut stall, selling coconuts at 10 Cuban pesos (40 cents) each. As the U.S. and Cuba rebuild economic ties, many are wondering what will become of the current cigar industry. Reuters/Desmond Boylan
While American cigar aficionados are hailing a series of measures designed to build economic and political ties between the U.S. and Cuba for giving them a chance to get their hands on coveted brands such as Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta, there is likely a downside on the horizon: The move will increase competition for cigar makers in other Caribbean Basin countries, which have been producing most of the U.S. supply during the 52-year-long embargo.
“The Cubans are still making them, they are just making better cigars — we think — in Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic,” Denver cigar-store owner Dan Dunne told KCNC-TV in Denver.
In any case, the changes may take a long time to appear in the marketplace because importers might be waiting months to establish official trade ties. Meanwhile, individual travelers are allowed to bring back $100 worth of cigars on trips between the two countries. In past decades, the penalty for smuggling Cuban cigars into the U.S. was as high as $55,000, ABC News reported.
Sales of cigars from Cuba to the U.S. were initially banned in 1962. But when tobacco growers were exiled by President Fidel Castro…
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