United States-Cuba Trade Act of 2025

Summary

Ends long-standing statutory restrictions on most U.S.–Cuba economic and people-to-people interactions and replaces the embargo-style framework with normal trade and travel rules. It repeals multiple Cuba-specific prohibitions, allows U.S. carriers to install and upgrade telecom links, bars limits on amounts of remittances, permits lawful travel and routine travel-related transactions, and directs negotiations on U.S. claims and human-rights protections. The bill preserves core criminal enforcement (money-laundering statutes) and retains the President’s authority to impose export controls under general export-control law or to declare a new national emergency if a new threat to U.S. national security arises. Trade tariff changes take effect earlier than the general effective date and the bill requires a report to Congress on trade relations within 18 months.

• Repeals many Cuba-specific statutory prohibitions and removes authorities that supported the long-standing embargo framework.
• Allows lawful travel between the U.S. and Cuba and protects transactions ordinarily incident to that travel.
• Prohibits Treasury from capping remittances to Cuba and requires rescission of existing remittance limits, while preserving money-laundering enforcement.
• Grants common carriers explicit authority to build, maintain, and upgrade telecommunications links and facilities between the U.S. and Cuba.
• Extends normal trade relations and removes tariff barriers for Cuban goods, with tariff changes effective 15 days after enactment.
• Directs negotiations with Cuba to settle U.S. national claims for property takings and to seek protections for internationally recognized human rights.
• Preserves presidential authority to use modern export-control law and to declare a future national emergency for Cuba if new threats arise.
• Modifies the foreign tax credit trigger in the Internal Revenue Code for future covered-country determinations.
• General effective date is 60 days after enactment, with some provisions (trade tariff changes and tax-rule timing) having separate effective rules.