Should the US maintain the embargo against Cuba?

Lifting the embargo will stimulate the US economy

Question: Should the US maintain the embargo against Cuba?
Position‹2 of 2: No, the US should lift the embargo.
Argument1 of 5›: Lifting the embargo will stimulate the US economy

America is set to be Cuba's biggest trading partner. Reforms that have liberalized trade with Cuba have already produced millions of dollars in revenue. The embargo should be lifted so that the US can benefit economically.

The argument

The US embargo has meant that America has lost out on what would be one of its biggest trading partners. In 2000 when cash only sales were briefly allowed by the US government on agricultural and medicinal products to Cuba, the US made millions. If the US replaced Cuba’s current principal trading partners which is likely due to proximity and cheapness, it could make millions more. America would also benefit from an expanded tourist industry in Cuba, which would undoubtedly sell US to products to the wider world if exports were normalized. Trade reforms have made Cuba the 25th biggest importer of American agricultural products. Some of Cuba’s current biggest problems would be solved by trading with American firms. The US is an important exporter of agricultural equipment and medical equipment, two things which Cuba is desperately in need of. Manufacturers and farmers in Texas in particular, would gain from an opening of trade relations. The US is likely to become Cuba's biggest trading partner and would gain many economic benefits from dropping the embargo. Trading with Cuba will stimulate certain sectors of the US economy.

Premises

[P1]Cuba would be one of America's biggest customers if the embargo were lifted.

[P2]Trade with Cuba would boost the US economy.

[C]The embargo should be lifted to help stimulate the US economy.

Counter-arguments

Trade with Cuba is immoral. The Cuban regime is oppressive and authoritarian. The US is full of Cuban-Americans who will feel betrayed by their own government if the US opens up trade with Cuba. Opening up trade with Cuba requires the US to ignore the many hostile actions the government has carried out against the US. Cuba is still harboring US fugitives and there are a number of outstanding claims against the government, including indictments against those responsible for shooting down of two US planes in 1996. The amount of money the US stands to gain is irrelevant, trade with Cuba is wrong.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] The scale is overstated: Cuba's population is around eleven million and its purchasing power limited, so on any realistic projection it could not be among America's biggest customers. [Rejecting P2] The 2000 agricultural sales the premise relies on describe a market measured in hundreds of millions rather than one that would register in an economy the size of the United States', and the gains would fall to particular sectors rather than to the economy at large. [Rejecting C] Economic benefit does not settle the question — the counter presses it on other grounds entirely — and even on its own terms the argument would need to weigh the leverage the embargo is held to provide, which it never addresses.