Cigar aficionado U.S. trade embargo

[unclepauly25]

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/senators-push-legislation-to-lift-u-s-trade-embargo-against-cuba

[Derboesekoenig]

Yup, been at it for years now. If it does happen, it won't happen without a fight. And the next president will be a factor in this as well. Hopefully all goes well. I think it would be good for Cuba...thought it would probably start off bad initially. These things take many years to see improvements.

[MD Puffer]

Even if the embargo was lifted, there are still many long legal battles to settle of various trademark disputes before you'd ever see some (authentic) Habanos in your local B&M.

[alloy]

As long as Donald is in office, it probably won't be signed.

[MD Puffer]

AHA!  I see what you did there.  Post a thread with an eye-catching title just minutes before 24:24.  Clever.  I'm on to you.

[peteando]

It's time.  Kennedy would be out of petit upmanns by now anyway.

[Hutch]

23 minutes ago, MD Puffer said:

Even if the embargo was lifted, there are still many long legal battles to settle of various trademark disputes before you'd ever see some (authentic) Habanos in your local B&M.

Not for all the brands that Altadis (Imperial) owns...nor the brands started since the embargo. At last count they’d be able to put 11 “brands” on our shelves pretty much immediately.

[El Presidente]

this thread has me handing out suspesions like lollypops. 

give me 5 and I will re-open it. 

[MooseAMuffin]

41 minutes ago, MD Puffer said:

Even if the embargo was lifted, there are still many long legal battles to settle of various trademark disputes before you'd ever see some (authentic) Habanos in your local B&M.

Sounds terrible but we can only hope that's the case. CCs are expensive enough without being in the US market.

[El Presidente]

All suspensions are done 

Any further infringements will be in for a long break.

There is a real sadness/immaturity when it comes to the conduct of some members on US politics. Grow up or bugger off somewhere else. 

[Bram Smoker]

I would think there could be a differentiation made for Habanos similar to that of champagne. Only sparkling wine from champagne can be labeled “champagne.” Likewise, all Cuban cigar brands are only able to be labeled “habanos” or something similar. Brand confusion could still be a real issue for the average consumer, and will ultimately result in lawsuits since money is on the table. I would think the real cost to the consumer would be each states tobacco tax. That is really the driving force for high cigar prices. 

[bpm32]

1 hour ago, MD Puffer said:

Even if the embargo was lifted, there are still many long legal battles to settle of various trademark disputes before you'd ever see some (authentic) Habanos in your local B&M.

If they were pragmatic about it they could just change the names for the American market, like Czechvar did. Now that everyone has the internet in his pocket it hardly even matters anymore. 

[El Presidente]

A couple of big cheques and it is done. 

 

[Chef]

43 minutes ago, bpm32 said:

If they were pragmatic about it they could just change the names for the American market, like Czechvar did. Now that everyone has the internet in his pocket it hardly even matters anymore. 

 

42 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

A couple of big cheques and it is done. 

 

 

So there's a B&M not too far from me that has trademarked (USA) his logo the famous yellow and black/white checkering that Cohiba is known for.  His store does very, very well.  It's going to be a big check alright.

[HarveyBoulevard]

I hate when I come late to the party I miss all the fun...

[Lotusguy]

I think it would be a great thing for Cuba.

Thinking purely selfishly as a consumer of CC, I worry very much about increased prices and decreased quality.

[wineguy]

9 minutes ago, Lotusguy said:

I think it would be a great thing for Cuba.

Thinking purely selfishly as a consumer of CC, I worry very much about increased prices and decreased quality.

I have increased my purchasing the last couple of years as a defense to this issue.  And because I can't really help myself... ?

[CubanAmerican]

I'm so conflicted about the embargo. It's pros and cons are something I've wrestled with since I've been old enough to understand what the embargo is (As a Cuban in the US, you learn pretty early) and how it works. On one hand, I think the sooner a non-communist freely elected democracy is put in place, the better off the average cuban citizen will be. I say this knowing full well that every box of CC's I purchase helps the Castro regime and how hypocritical it is for me to buy them and then get on my anti-Castro soapbox. I deal with that everyday.

But I also know that even with the embargo, people in the government will also always live high on the hog, while some Cuban citizens eat stray cats and fried sponges. The embargo hurts the average Cuban citizen the most. And maybe that makes it not worth it.

I'm apologize in advance if this post strayed too political, @El Presidente. It was not my intention. This is just a really sensitive issue for me that I get more conflicted about day by day.

[bpm32]

I think some people give the US a hard time because we’ve got this bizarre embargo going with Cuba, but not other communist countries like China and Vietnam. The thing is, the US seems to give a huge amount of attention to what the displaced immigrants in the US want. In my view, the embargo has been driven mostly by Cuban-Americans. Sure, one side or another might try to pander and virtue signal to the Cuban-Americans, but generally the embargo is not a top ten issue for non-Cubans.

I grew up with a lot of Vietnamese, and I can’t think of anyone who said, “hey, let’s form voting blocks and push to punish the communist regime there in Vietnam”. They just didn’t care all that much. I would hope they had somehow already become 100% American.

It was the same thing with my Chinese grandparents. They lost a lot of land in China—and I mean A LOT—but I’ve never heard them exhibit hard feelings toward China or Mao. It’s like they hadn’t even considered it, and these are people who hold incredible, ridiculous grudges against individuals. The subject has simply never come up and I don’t think they ever even think about it.

[BJRPorter]

I look forward to the end of the embargo, on many levels.

[El Presidente]

6 minutes ago, BJRPorter said:

I look forward to the end of the embargo, on many levels.

amen

[Cep]

Can I ask a silly question?

What is it about this topic that leads to bans? 

What could possibly be said that is so problematic?

 

[Colt45]

14 minutes ago, Cep said:

Can I ask a silly question?

What is it about this topic that leads to bans? 

What could possibly be said that is so problematic?

 

One of the FOH rules is that there is no discussion of U.S. politics. Typically, it has been allowed with the hope that it might at some point be discussed with some sense of civility.

It invariably gets personal.

[Born Habano]

13 hours ago, MooseAMuffin said:

Sounds terrible but we can only hope that's the case. CCs are expensive enough without being in the US market.

That's what I have said for a long time.  The "best friend" of lovers of CC is the embargo.  Can't even imagine the demand spike of they could be bought off of retail shelves in USA.

[bsubtown]

44 minutes ago, Born Habano said:

That's what I have said for a long time.  The "best friend" of lovers of CC is the embargo.  Can't even imagine the demand spike of they could be bought off of retail shelves in USA.

I was just thinking about this. What a shock to the market that would be. There are certainly a huge number of Americans who either don't know how to buy CC, won't because of fear or adherence to the laws of this country. It didn't really occur to me to start searching them out until recently. Although my mouth appreciates it my wallet does not.