2015

At the request of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has launched an investigation to study the economic effects of the statutory and administrative restrictions related to trade with and travel to Cuba on exports of U.S. goods and services.  This investigation follows President Obama’s December 17, 2014 announcement to ease economic and travel restrictions against Cuba.

The USITC report will contain:

  1. A ten-year overview of Cuba’s imports of goods and services, identifying major countries, products, and market segments;
  2. A description of how U.S. restrictions on trade affect Cuban imports of U.S. goods and services; and
  3. An estimate of U.S. exports of goods and services to Cuba should the U.S. lift statutory, administrative, and other trade restrictions on U.S. exports of goods and services and travel to Cuba.

The U.S. Departments of Treasury and Commerce today announced new regulations intended to significantly loosen the embargo imposed against Cuba in 1963.  The changes to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), administered by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), will go into effect on January 16, 2015, when the rules are published in the Federal Register.  The new rules are part of the implementation of the Obama Administration’s policy shift concerning Cuba, which was announced by President Obama on December 17, 2014.