II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 136
To lift the trade embargo on Cuba, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY16, 2025
Mr. W
YDEN(for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
A BILL
To lift the trade embargo on Cuba, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Cuba 4
Trade Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF PROVISIONS RESTRICTING TRADE 6
AND OTHER RELATIONS WITH CUBA. 7
(a) A
UTHORITY FOR EMBARGO AND SUGAR 8
Q
UOTA.— 9
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Section 620(a) of the For-10
eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2370(a)) is 11
repealed. 12
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•S 136 IS
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT .—Section 1
1610(f)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, is 2
amended by striking ‘‘section 620(a) of the Foreign 3
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2370(a)),’’. 4
(b) T
RADINGWITH THEENEMYACT.— 5
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The authorities conferred 6
upon the President by section 5(b) of the Trading 7
With the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 4305(b)), which 8
were being exercised with respect to Cuba on July 9
1, 1977, as a result of a national emergency de-10
clared by the President before that date, and are 11
being exercised on the day before the effective date 12
of this Act, may not be exercised on or after such 13
effective date with respect to Cuba. 14
(2) R
EGULATIONS.—Any regulation in effect on 15
the day before the effective date of this Act pursuant 16
to the exercise of authorities described in paragraph 17
(1) shall cease to be effective on such effective date. 18
(c) E
XERCISE OFAUTHORITIESUNDEROTHERPRO-19
VISIONS OFLAW.— 20
(1) R
EMOVAL OF PROHIBITIONS .—Any prohibi-21
tion on exports to Cuba that is in effect on the day 22
before the effective date of this Act under the Ex-23
port Administration Act of 1979 (Public Law 96– 24
72; 93 Stat. 503) or the Export Control Reform Act 25
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•S 136 IS
of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.) shall cease to be 1
effective on such effective date. 2
(2) A
UTHORITY FOR NEW RESTRICTIONS .—The 3
President may, on and after the effective date of this 4
Act— 5
(A) impose export controls with respect to 6
Cuba under the Export Control Reform Act of 7
2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.); and 8
(B) exercise the authorities the President 9
has under the International Emergency Eco-10
nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) 11
with respect to Cuba pursuant to a declaration 12
of national emergency required by that Act that 13
is made on account of an unusual and extraor-14
dinary threat to the national security, foreign 15
policy, or economy of the United States, that 16
did not exist before the date of the enactment 17
of this Act. 18
(d) R
EPEAL OFCUBANDEMOCRACYACT OF1992.— 19
The Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 6001 et 20
seq.) is repealed. 21
(e) R
EPEAL OFCUBANLIBERTY ANDDEMOCRATIC 22
S
OLIDARITY(LIBERTAD) ACT OF1996.— 23
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(1) REPEAL.—The Cuban Liberty and Demo-1
cratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 2
U.S.C. 6021 et seq.) is repealed. 3
(2) C
ONFORMING AMENDMENTS .— 4
(A) V
ISA REVOCATION.—Section 428(c)(2) 5
of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 6
U.S.C. 236(c)(2)) is amended— 7
(i) by striking subparagraph (K); and 8
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 9
(L) through (P) as subparagraphs (K) 10
through (O), respectively. 11
(B) E
FFECT OF DETERMINATION .—Sec-12
tion 606 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 13
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Public 14
Law 104–208; 8 U.S.C. 1255 note) is repealed. 15
(C) P
ROPERTY IMMUNE FROM ATTACH -16
MENT.—Section 1611 of title 28, United States 17
Code, is amended by striking subsection (c). 18
(D) I
NTERNATIONAL CLAIMS .—Sections 19
514 and 515 of the International Claims Settle-20
ment Act of 1949 (22 U.S.C. 1643l and 21
1643m) are repealed. 22
(f) R
EPEAL OFPROVISIONSIMPOSINGCERTAINRE-23
STRICTIONS ONASSISTANCE TOFORMERSOVIETCOUN-24
TRIES.— 25
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 498A of the Foreign 1
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2295a) is amend-2
ed— 3
(A) in subsection (a)(11), by striking ‘‘and 4
intelligence facilities, including the military and 5
intelligence facilities at Lourdes and Cien-6
fuegos,’’ and inserting ‘‘facilities,’’; 7
(B) in subsection (b)— 8
(i) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 9
after the semicolon; 10
(ii) by striking paragraph (5); and 11
(iii) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 12
paragraph (5); and 13
(C) by striking subsection (d). 14
(2) D
EFINITIONS.—Section 498B(k) of the 15
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 16
2295b(k)) is amended by striking paragraphs (3) 17
and (4). 18
(g) T
RADESANCTIONSREFORM ANDEXPORTEN-19
HANCEMENT ACT OF2000.—The Trade Sanctions Re-20
form and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 21
7201 et seq.) is amended— 22
(1) in section 906(a)(1) (22 U.S.C. 23
7205(a)(1)), by striking ‘‘Cuba,’’; 24
(2) in section 908 (22 U.S.C. 7207)— 25
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(A) by striking subsection (b); 1
(B) in subsection (a)— 2
(i) by striking ‘‘P
ROHIBITION’’ and all 3
that follows through ‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.— 4
Notwithstanding’’ and inserting ‘‘I
NGEN-5
ERAL.—Notwithstanding’’; 6
(ii) by striking ‘‘for exports to Cuba 7
or’’; 8
(iii) by striking paragraph (2); and 9
(iv) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 10
subsection (b) and by moving such sub-11
section, as so redesignated, 2 ems to the 12
left; and 13
(C) in subsection (b), as redesignated by 14
subparagraph (B)(iv), by striking ‘‘paragraph 15
(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 16
(3) by striking section 909 (22 U.S.C. 7208); 17
(4) by striking section 910 (22 U.S.C. 7209); 18
and 19
(5) by redesignating section 911 (Public Law 20
106–387; 114 Stat. 1549A–72) as section 909. 21
(h) R
EPEAL OFPROHIBITION ONTRANSACTIONS OR 22
P
AYMENTSWITHRESPECT TOCERTAINUNITEDSTATES 23
I
NTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.—Section 211 of the Depart-24
ment of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations 25
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Act, 1999 (as contained in section 101(b) of division A 1
of Public Law 105–277; 112 Stat. 2681–88) is repealed. 2
(i) S
UGARQUOTAPROHIBITIONUNDERFOODSECU-3
RITYACT OF1985.—Subsection (c) of section 902 of the 4
Food Security Act of 1985 (Public Law 99–198; 99 Stat. 5
1444) is repealed. 6
SEC. 3. TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT AND FACILI-7
TIES. 8
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Any common carrier, as defined 9
in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 10
U.S.C. 153), may install, maintain, and repair tele-11
communications equipment and facilities in Cuba, and 12
otherwise provide telecommunications services between the 13
United States and Cuba. 14
(b) U
PGRADE OFFACILITIES ANDEQUIPMENT.— 15
The authority under subsection (a) includes the authority 16
to upgrade facilities and equipment. 17
SEC. 4. TRAVEL. 18
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Travel to and from Cuba by indi-19
viduals who are citizens or residents of the United States, 20
and any transactions ordinarily incident to such travel, 21
may not be regulated or prohibited if that travel would 22
be lawful in the United States. 23
(b) T
RANSACTIONSINCIDENTTOTRAVEL.—Trans-24
actions ordinarily incident to travel that may not be regu-25
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lated or prohibited under subsection (a) include the fol-1
lowing: 2
(1) Transactions ordinarily incident to travel or 3
maintenance in Cuba. 4
(2) Normal banking transactions involving for-5
eign currency drafts, traveler’s checks, or other ne-6
gotiable instruments incident to that travel. 7
SEC. 5. NEGOTIATIONS WITH CUBA. 8
(a) N
EGOTIATIONS.—The President should take all 9
necessary steps to advance negotiations with the Govern-10
ment of Cuba— 11
(1) for the purpose of settling claims of nation-12
als of the United States against the Government of 13
Cuba for the taking of property by such government; 14
and 15
(2) for the purpose of securing the protection of 16
internationally recognized human rights. 17
(b) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘na-18
tional of the United States’’ and ‘‘property’’ have the 19
meanings given those terms in section 502 of the Inter-20
national Claims Settlement Act of 1949 (22 U.S.C. 21
1643a). 22
SEC. 6. EXTENSION OF NONDISCRIMINATORY TRADE 23
TREATMENT. 24
(a) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.— 25
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(1) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of the Con-1
gress that— 2
(A) the United States should promote 3
democratic change and economic reform by nor-4
malizing trade relations with Cuba; and 5
(B) upon the enactment of this Act, it will 6
no longer be necessary for the United States to 7
continue to use article XXI of the GATT 1994 8
with respect to Cuba, understanding that the 9
President retains full authority to invoke article 10
XXI of the GATT 1994 and comparable provi-11
sions in other Uruguay Round Agreements in 12
the future in all appropriate circumstances. 13
(2) D
EFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 14
terms ‘‘GATT 1994’’ and ‘‘Uruguay Round Agree-15
ments’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec-16
tion 2 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 17
U.S.C. 3501). 18
(b) E
XTENSION OF NONDISCRIMINATORY TREAT-19
MENT TO THEPRODUCTS OFCUBA.— 20
(1) H
ARMONIZED TARIFF SCHEDULE AMEND -21
MENTS.—Subdivision (b) of general note 3 of the 22
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States is 23
amended— 24
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(A) by striking ‘‘to section 401 of the Tar-1
iff Classification Act of 1962,’’; and 2
(B) by striking ‘‘Cuba’’. 3
(2) R
EPEAL OF SECTION 401 OF THE TARIFF 4
CLASSIFICATION ACT OF 1962 .—Section 401 of the 5
Tariff Classification Act of 1962 (Public Law 87– 6
456; 76 Stat. 78) is repealed. 7
(3) T
ERMINATION OF APPLICATION OF TITLE IV 8
OF THE TRADE ACT OF 1974 TO CUBA .— 9
(A) E
XTENSION OF NONDISCRIMINATORY 10
TREATMENT.—Nondiscriminatory treatment 11
(normal trade relations treatment) shall apply 12
to the products of Cuba. 13
(B) T
ERMINATION OF APPLICATION OF 14
TITLE IV.—Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 15
(19 U.S.C. 2431 et seq.) shall cease to apply to 16
Cuba. 17
(4) E
FFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the 18
amendments made by this section, shall apply with 19
respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from ware-20
house for consumption, on or after the 15th day 21
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 22
(c) R
EPORT TOCONGRESS.—The President shall 23
submit to Congress, not later than 18 months after the 24
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date of the enactment of this Act, a report on trade rela-1
tions between the United States and Cuba. 2
SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON LIMITING ANNUAL REMITTANCES. 3
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 4
(b), the Secretary of the Treasury may not limit the 5
amount of remittances to Cuba that may be made by any 6
person who is subject to the jurisdiction of the United 7
States, and the Secretary shall rescind all regulations in 8
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act that so 9
limit the amount of those remittances. 10
(b) R
ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub-11
section (a) may be construed to prohibit the prosecution 12
or conviction of any person committing an offense de-13
scribed in section 1956 of title 18, United States Code 14
(relating to the laundering of monetary instruments), or 15
section 1957 of such title (relating to engaging in mone-16
tary transactions in property derived from specific unlaw-17
ful activity). 18
SEC. 8. REQUIREMENT TO REPORT TO CONGRESS PRIOR 19
TO DENIAL OF FOREIGN TAX CREDIT WITH 20
RESPECT TO CERTAIN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 21
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Subclause (II) of section 22
901(j)(2)(B)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 23
amended by striking ‘‘such country becomes’’ and insert-24
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ing ‘‘the date on which the President reports to Congress 1
that such country has been determined to be’’. 2
(b) E
FFECTIVEDATE.— 3
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 4
the amendment made by this section shall apply to 5
any determination regarding whether a foreign coun-6
try is described in subparagraph (A) of section 7
901(j)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 8
which is made after the date of the enactment of 9
this Act. 10
(2) N
ON-APPLICATION TO COUNTRIES SUBJECT 11
TO DENIAL OF FOREIGN TAX CREDIT .—Nothing in 12
this section, or the amendment made by this section, 13
shall be construed to alter, amend, or otherwise af-14
fect the application of subsection (j) of section 901 15
of such Code to any country which has been deter-16
mined to be a country described in paragraph (2)(A) 17
of such subsection on or before the date of the en-18
actment of this Act. 19
SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 20
Except as provided in sections 6 and 8, this Act and 21
the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the 22
date that is 60 days after the date of the enactment of 23
this Act. 24
Æ
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