On June 16, President Donald Trump announced a cancelation to the post-Dec. 14, 2014 U.S. policy toward Cuba. While speaking before prominent members of the Cuban-American community in Miami, President Trump stated that he is “canceling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba,” effective immediately. However, the announced changes do not take effect until the new regulations are officially issued by the different U.S. government departments. The Department of Treasury, along with its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), as well as the Department of Commerce, will be among the departments that will each have 30 days to review the changes the president has provided. After the 30-day review, the departments will begin drafting the new regulations. It may be months before the new regulations are officially issued, at which moment everything becomes official and binding.
Even though Trump stated that he is “canceling” the engagement between the United States and Cuba, many of President Barak Obama’s 2014 policy changes will remain unaffected. For example, the U.S. embassy in Havana will remain open, as will the Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C. Furthermore, U.S. commercial flights and cruise ships will continue to be permitted to travel to the island. The $2,000 limit on remittances that can be sent to nonfamily members in Cuba, as well as the change to allow travelers to carry as much as $10,000 to Cuba, will likewise not be affected. President Trump also did not reverse Obama’s elimination of the “wet foot, dry foot” policy—the policy that previously gave Cubans a special status and authorization to stay when they reached the United States. And finally, there will be no change in the restrictions on the types of goods that Americans can take out of Cuba, including the country’s popular rum and cigars.
