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. […]
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. […]
President Barack Obama announcedWednesday that the U.S. and Cuba will now reestablish diplomatic ties and reopen embassies in their respective capitals. The announcement comes just one month after the Secretary of State removed Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list. Although it would take an act of Congress to lift the trade embargo, reopening embassies is another brick in the foundation of normalizing trade relations. With the new embassies opening in July, there will be greater contact between the US and the Cuban people which will ultimately lead to a change in the US’s attitude towards the trade embargo.
