United States-Cuba Trade Act of 2025
The United States-Cuba Trade Act of 2025 would fundamentally lift most longstanding U.S. trade and economic restrictions on Cuba and normalize relations in many areas. By repealing or significantly amending a broad set of embargo-era laws and restrictions, the bill would remove the legal basis for the U.S. embargo, discard the Trading With the Enemy Act provisions applicable to Cuba, and end many prior restrictions on exports, travel, sanctions, and financial controls. It would also authorize telecommunications activity with Cuba, allow broadened travel and remittances, and push toward nondiscriminatory trade treatment (normal trade relations) for Cuban goods. At the same time, the bill preserves some authority for future actions (e.g., export controls under the Export Control Reform Act and potential emergency powers) and requires negotiations on specific issues (claims by U.S. nationals against Cuba and human rights protections). The President would be directed to pursue talks on property claims and human rights, and Congress would receive periodic reports on trade relations. Nothing in the bill prevents the President from exercising certain selective authorities under other laws (like emergency powers) after enactment, but the core framework moves toward full normal trade relations and open engagement with Cuba.
Key Points
- 1Repeal of embargo-related authorities and protections
- 2- Repeal Section 620(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and related conforming provisions, removing the statutory embargo framework.
- 3- End authorities under the Trading With the Enemy Act as they apply to Cuba (with regulations under that act ceasing on the effective date).
- 4- Remove prohibitions on exports to Cuba under the Export Administration Act of 1979 and the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, while allowing the President to impose export controls under the Export Control Reform Act or declare a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act if needed in the future.
- 5- Repeal the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 and the LIBERTAD Act of 1996, with several conforming amendments to related statutes (visa provisions, property attachment, and certain international claims provisions).
- 6- Repeal or substantially modify provisions in the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 related to Cuba, and remove certain prohibitions on financial transactions with Cuba.
- 7- Repeal provisions restricting assistance to former Soviet countries and related compliance sections.
- 8Move to normal trade relations and tariff treatment
- 9- Section 6 creates a sense of Congress that nondiscriminatory trade treatment should be extended to Cuba, with the President retaining some authority to use international trade provisions in the future.
- 10- Harmonized Tariff Schedule changes to apply nondiscriminatory (normal) trade treatment to Cuban products; repeal of the Tariff Classification Act of 1962 section related to Cuba; termination of Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 as it applies to Cuba.
- 11- Effective date for these trade-relations changes is 15 days after enactment (for the tariff and related changes).
- 12Telecommunications and travel liberalization
- 13- Section 3 authorizes common carriers to install, maintain, and repair telecommunications equipment in Cuba and to provide telecommunications services between the U.S. and Cuba, including upgrades.
- 14- Section 4 allows travel to and from Cuba by U.S. citizens and residents and protects related ordinary financial transactions and travel-related activities from government prohibition or regulation if they would be lawful in the United States.
- 15Negotiations and human rights/claims
- 16- Section 5 directs the President to pursue negotiations with Cuba to settle U.S. nationals’ property claims against the Cuban government and to secure protection of internationally recognized human rights.
- 17- Defines “national of the United States” and “property” for purposes of these negotiations consistent with the International Claims Settlement Act.
- 18Remittances and tax considerations
- 19- Section 7 bars the Treasury from limiting remittances to Cuba, rescinding existing remittance-limiting regulations, with limited exceptions for money-laundering or other illegal activities.
- 20- Section 8 requires the President to report to Congress before denying certain foreign tax credits to Cuba, altering the process by which foreign tax credit determinations for Cuba would be reported to Congress.
- 21Implementation timing and oversight
- 22- Effective date generally 60 days after enactment, with specific provisions in Section 6 applying to goods entered after 15 days.
- 23- A required report to Congress on trade relations with Cuba within 18 months of enactment.