Embargo Archives | Customs & International Trade Law Blog

Trump Administration Tightens Cuba’s Sanctions Program

Since June 2017, we have been anxiously awaiting changes to the Cuba sanctions program since President Trump signed an executive order and emphatically stated that his administration would tighten loose regulations established under the Obama Administration.

On November 8, 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury stated,

“We have strengthened our Cuba policies to channel economic activity away from the Cuban military and to encourage the government to move toward greater political and economic freedom for the Cuban people”

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By Jennifer Diaz|2021-11-05T14:55:38-04:00November 9, 2017|Best Practices, Cuba, International Business, International Trade, International Travel, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), U.S. Department of State (DOS), U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)|3 Comments

Up to 110 Daily Flights from the U.S. to Cuba

If you are in aviation – commercial or private – there are potential new business opportunities in Cuba. The American government and our new friendly neighbor to the south, the Republic of Cuba last sat at the negotiation table to discuss Air Transportation agreements in 1957, as parties to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. Nearly sixty years later, on February 16, 2016, the United States government and Cuba entered into an aviation agreement, the U.S.-Cuba Memorandum of Understanding of February 16, 2016, and intend to apply the basis of comity and reciprocity of the agreement.

Immediately after, Anthony Foxx, U.S. Transportation Secretary, Charles Rivkin, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, Adel Yzquierdo Rodriguez, Cuban Minister of Transportation and Colonel Alfredo Cordero Puig, President of the Cuban Civil Aviation Institute (IACC), Ministry of Transportation signed the agreement, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) encouraged U.S. air carriers to apply for licensing and authorization to offer flights to Cuba.

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By Jennifer Diaz|2021-11-09T14:36:33-05:00February 23, 2016|Best Practices, Cuba, Export, Freight Forwarding, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)|8 Comments

Revised Cuba Regulations Officially Released

Today, a final rule, opening U.S. trade with Cuba, was published in the Federal Register by the U.S. Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). Through this Federal Register notice, OFAC has amended its Cuban Assets Control Regulations and the BIS has amended the Export Administration Regulations with a “Support for the Cuban People” license exception. This final rule is effective today, with proposed rulemaking, opportunity for public participation, and delay in effective date deemed inapplicable because this regulation involves a foreign affairs function of the U.S.

Cuban cigars will not be readily available for U.S. consumers to purchase as a result of these changes.

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By Jennifer Diaz|2021-11-09T14:50:39-05:00January 16, 2015|Export, Import, International Travel, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)|Comments Off

TOMORROW Updated Cuban Assets Control Regulations Take Effect

Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced it is amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 515 (the “CACR”), which will be published in the Federal Register tomorrow, January 16, 2015, at which time the changes will take effect. […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2022-07-11T13:26:15-04:00January 15, 2015|Export, Import, International Travel, U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)|Comments Off

How the OFAC Stole Christmas

Reprinted with permission from Clif Burns of the Export Law Blog.

A spokesman for the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) told Export Law Blog this morning that discussions between OFAC and the North Pole over Santa Claus’s Christmas Eve itinerary had once again broken down and were not expected to be resumed before Santa’s scheduled departure on December 24 at 10 pm EST. […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2021-11-09T14:51:47-05:00December 23, 2014|Export, U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)|Comments Off

Business with Cuba – What’s Legal and What’s Not?

President Obama announced that the U.S. will lay out “a new course in our relations with Cuba.” This could mean new changes for very specific sectors at first – travel, financial services, telecom/communications, and companies that make and sell building materials and agricultural equipment. The current Sanctions in place will be eased for those engaged in trade and commerce. Does this mean that Cuban cigars will be readily available for U.S. consumers? No. The specific details of how this will occur are not in place yet, however they should be in the coming weeks. This does not mean the Sanctions imposed by the Cuban Assets Control Regulations issued in 1963 will end (that would take Congressional approval), they will just be eased in the following ways. Read on for the full details. […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2021-11-09T14:54:30-05:00December 17, 2014|Export, Import, International Travel, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)|Comments Off