Today, President Obama announced that the US Government plans to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba and to relax certain aspects of the US embargo of Cuba. More detailed information was made available through the issuance of a White House fact sheet, the “White House FACT SHEET: Charting a New Course on Cuba.”
Importantly, none of the announced changes to the embargo are self-executing. As the White House fact sheet makes clear, the changes will only take effect once they are implemented through forthcoming amendments to the relevant regulations of the US Treasury and Commerce Departments.
In today’s announcement, President Obama announced plans for the following key changes to the embargo:
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facilitation of travel by making general licenses available for the 12 existing categories of travel to Cuba;
- authorization of expanded commercial sales and exports of certain goods and services to Cuba, such as building materials for private residential construction, goods for use by private sector Cuban entrepreneurs, and agricultural equipment for small farmers;
- authorization of the commercial sale and export of certain telecommunications items and services to improve telecommunications between the United States and Cuba and increase Cubans’ access to communications;
- facilitation of remittances to Cuba by US persons;
- facilitation of authorized transactions with Cuba by permitting US financial institutions to open correspondent accounts at Cuban financial institutions, the use of US credit and debit cards by travelers to Cuba, and payment by cash before transfer of title; and,
- authorization by general license of certain activities by US-owned or controlled entities in third countries with, among other things, Cuban individuals in third countries.
While the forthcoming changes appear to be within the President’s authority to calibrate the embargo, certain aspects of the changes may prove to be controversial with Congress. Furthermore, fundamental parts of the embargo have been codified into statutory law such that further, more significant changes in the future would require Congressional action. For example, the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996 (the “Helms-Burton Act”) sets out a number of significant restrictions with respect to, among other things, democratic and human rights reforms that must be undertaken by the Cuban government before most sanctions can be lifted. These limitations are reflected in the President’s acknowledgement today that he would need to engage in “an honest and serious debate” with Congress “about lifting the embargo” in the future.
