WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday moved to cement his administration’s historic opening with Cuba by issuing a sweeping directive that will last beyond his presidency, setting forth a new United States policy to lift the Cold War trade embargo and end a half-century of clandestine plotting against Cuba’s government.

The action formalizes the shift toward normalization that the president unveiled nearly two years ago with the announcement that he and President Raúl Castro of Cuba had secretly agreed to repair their countries’ relationship.

Mr. Obama on Friday also made what aides said were likely his final major modifications to loosen United States sanctions on Cuba before leaving office, including lifting the $100 limit on bringing Cuban rum and cigars into the United States.

It is Mr. Obama’s latest use of executive power to press forward in the face of lingering opposition in Congress to repealing the embargo, this time through a 12-page document that essentially transforms what has been a presidential priority into a set of official mandates that will shape United States policy toward Cuba for decades.</s>HAVANA TIMES — In what could be his last effort to warm relations with Cuba, President Obama today announced his approval of new regulations to facilitate business and trade.

One of the most significant actions was to rescind the ban on receiving cargo ships in US ports for six months after having docked in Cuba. This provision could make much more viable the deep water port that the Castro government built with Brazilian funding at Mariel west of Havana.

Likewise, restrictions on the amount of rum and cigars, two important Cuban exports, will be lifted as of Monday, October 17th. The same goes for other products. Duties as normally applied to imports from other countries will still have to be paid but the quantity allowed for personal use will lose its ceiling.

During the last period imports from Cuba by travelers was limited to a value of $400 including $100 of rum and/or cigars.

The decision comes less than a month before the US elections with the two candidates differing on the measures taken by Obama. Hillary Clinton is in favor of the administration policy and Donald Trump is now opposed until Cuba meets new demands.

Another area of interest is that now US institutions and companies and Cuba will be able to carry out joint medical research.

“The new rules also expand the opportunities for Cubans to receive grants and scholarships to study in the United States, streamline some previous trade authorizations and allow U.S. nationals to provide services to Cuba or Cuban nationals related to developing, repairing, maintaining and enhancing Cuban infrastructure in order to directly benefit the Cuban people,” noted the Miami Herald.

“These amendments will create more opportunities for Cuban citizens to access American goods and services, further strengthening the ties between our two countries,” said US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. “More commercial activity between the US and Cuba benefits our people and our economies.”

Read the full statement from President Obama:

Statement by the President on the Presidential Policy Directive on Cuba

Today, I approved a Presidential Policy Directive that takes another major step forward in our efforts to normalize relations with Cuba. This Directive takes a comprehensive and whole-of-government approach to promote engagement with the Cuban government and people, and make our opening to Cuba irreversible.

In December 2014, following more than 50 years of failed policy, I announced that the United States would begin a process of normalizing relations with Cuba. Since then, we’ve worked with the people and the government of Cuba to do exactly that – re-establishing diplomatic relations, opening embassies, expanding travel and commerce, and launching initiatives to help our people cooperate and innovate. This new directive consolidates and builds upon the changes we’ve already made, promotes transparency by being clear about our policy and intentions, and encourages further engagement between our countries and our people.

Consistent with this approach, the Departments of Treasury and Commerce issued further regulatory changes today, building on the progress made over the last two years, to continue to facilitate more interaction between the Cuban and American people, including through travel and commercial opportunities, and more access to information. This follows previous changes that helped facilitate interconnectivity between our peoples, and to promote economic reforms on the island by providing access to the dollar in international transactions. These changes are representative of the progress I saw firsthand when I visited Havana to personally extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. The quick flight over 90 miles of blue water belied the real barriers of the past that were crossed that day, but my interactions with everyday Cubans told a promising story of neighbors working to build broader ties of cooperation across the Americas.

Challenges remain – and very real differences between our governments persist on issues of democracy and human rights – but I believe that engagement is the best way to address those differences and make progress on behalf of our interests and values. The progress of the last two years, bolstered by today’s action, should remind the world of what’s possible when we look to the future together.</s>Americans traveling to Cuba will be allowed to bring home more of the communist-ruled island’s coveted cigars and rum under new measures announced by the U.S. government on Friday to further ease trade, travel and financial restrictions that have been in place for decades.

The steps are part of President Barack Obama’s effort to make his historic opening to Cuba “irreversible” by the time he leaves office in January.

The latest in a series of new rules since the two former Cold War foes began normalizing relations in 2014 will allow export to Cuba of some U.S. consumer goods sold online, open the door to Cuban pharmaceutical companies to do business in the United States and let Cubans and Americans engage in joint medical research.

For the average American traveler, the biggest change is the removal of limits on the amount of rum and cigars they can pack in their luggage for personal use. The administration partially lifted the ban in 2015, allowing Americans to bring back $100 in alcohol and tobacco products. Now they can come home with as much as they want as long as they pay duties and taxes.

U.S. law still bans general tourism to Cuba, but the administration has used previous regulatory packages to make it easier for Americans to visit the island under 12 officially authorized categories.

The latest measures are part of an executive order on Cuba through which Obama seeks to sidestep the Republican-controlled Congress, which has resisted his call to lift Washington’s economic embargo after more than 50 years.

Republican critics say Obama has made too many concessions to Cuba for too little in return, especially on human rights issues.

Other changes announced on Friday include allowing Cuban pharmaceutical companies to apply for U.S. regulatory approval, letting U.S. firms improve Cuban infrastructure for humanitarian purposes and authorizing them to provide safety-related aircraft services in Cuba, where U.S. airlines are beginning regularly scheduled flights.

To boost U.S.-Cuba trade, Washington was also lifting a prohibition on foreign ships from entering a U.S. port to load or unload cargo for 180 days after calling on a Cuban port, according to a joint statement from U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments.

The announcement, less than a month before the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election, represents Obama’s effort to normalize ties between Washington and Havana as much as he can before his term ends.

“Today, I approved a Presidential Policy Directive that takes another major step forward in our efforts to normalize relations with Cuba,” Obama said in a statement, adding that his goal was to “make our opening to Cuba irreversible.”

A senior U.S. official, who asked not to be named, said the administration wants to lock in benefits from the new Cuba policy for U.S. citizens and companies and make it impossible for any future president to “turn back the clock.”

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton backs the policy of rapprochement with Havana. Republican Donald Trump has vowed to roll back Obama’s executive actions.

Obama traveled to Havana in March, the first visit by a U.S. president in 88 years. The trip was made possible by his breakthrough agreement with Cuban President Raul Castro in December 2014 to cast aside decades of hostility that began soon after Cuba’s 1959 revolution.

Since the opening, Obama has repeatedly used his executive powers to relax trade and travel restrictions, while pushing Cuba to accelerate market-style reforms and boost political and economic freedom.

The latest package, the sixth, is likely to be the “last significant tranche of changes” during Obama’s tenure, the senior U.S. official said.

“This new directive consolidates and builds upon the changes we’ve already made,” Obama said. He added, however, that “challenges remain - and very real differences between our governments persist on issues of democracy and human rights.”

The previous package of measures, unveiled in March, made it far easier for Americans to visit Cuba and for the island’s Communist government to conduct long-restricted international trade. The United States also loosened limits on the use of U.S. dollars in Cuba trade, removing a huge obstacle to Havana’s access to the global banking system.

Even so, the U.S. embargo against Cuba has remained in place, a major irritant in relations. Only Congress can lift the embargo, and the Republican leadership is not expected to allow such a move anytime soon.</s>The Obama administration announced Friday that it is eliminating a $100 limit on the value of Cuban rum and cigars that American travelers can bring back from the island.

The administration is also lifting limits on cargo ship travel between the U.S. and Cuba and easing U.S. and Cuban researchers' ability to conduct joint medical research. The measures are contained in a package of relatively small-scale regulatory changes meant to ease U.S. trade with Cuba.

The Obama administration has now made six sets of changes loosening the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba in the hopes that the normalization of relations with the island will not be reversed by a future administration. This round is expected to be the last before President Barack Obama leaves office.

Cuban rum and cigars will now be subject to the same duties as alcohol and tobacco from other countries, meaning most travelers will be able to bring back as many as 100 cigars and several bottles of rum. Because high-end Cuban cigars can sell for more than $100 apiece outside Cuba, every U.S. traveler can now legally bring back many thousands of dollars of Cuban products, potentially generating hundreds of millions of dollars in new annual revenue for the Cuban state.

The change does not mean that Cuban rum and cigars will be available for sale in the U.S. — the change is aimed at tobacco and alcohol brought home for personal use.

The previous limit restricted travelers to a combined value of $100 in rum and cigars, although enforcement of the limit notably declined after President Barack Obama declared detente with Cuba on Dec. 17, 2014.

The administration has described its policy goal as aimed at helping the Cuban people improve their lives by winning greater economic and political freedom from the single-party state.

"Challenges remain - and very real differences between our governments persist on issues of democracy and human rights - but I believe that engagement is the best way to address those differences and make progress on behalf of our interests and values," Obama said in a statement announcing the changes.

Rum and cigar production is entirely government-run under Cuba's centrally planned communist economy. While the first regulatory changes focused narrowly on helping Cuba's growing private sector, Friday's new rules are almost entirely aimed at similarly state-run industries including shipping and medical products.

The package of regulatory changes announced Friday also allows cargo ships to visit U.S. ports directly after docking in Cuba. They had been barred from U.S. ports for 180 days after visiting Cuba. Cuba blamed that measure for harming its ability to import and export and dampening hopes that a new military-run port in the city of Mariel could serve as a major link in the regional cargo shipping system.

A senior Obama administration official said the new regulations' focus on Cuban state enterprise should not be interpreted as a shift away from helping ordinary Cubans.

"We have designed the policy very much to have the maximum benefit to the Cuban people, broadly, but in so doing we are not restricting engagement with the Cuban state. That has been clear since Dec. 17, 2014," the official said in a conference call with reporters held on condition of anonymity. "The Cuban people continue to be at the center of everything we're doing."

More than 160,000 American travelers visited Cuba last year and that figure is expected to double this year. Hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans visit family on the island each year and will also be able to take advantage of the new measure, which comes a month and a half before the restart of commercial flights to Havana after more than 50 years.</s>The Obama administration announced Friday it is eliminating a $100 limit on the value of Cuban rum and cigars that American travelers can bring back from the island.

The administration is also lifting limits on cargo ship travel between the U.S. and Cuba and easing U.S. and Cuban researchers’ ability to conduct joint medical research. The measures are contained in a package of relatively small-scale regulatory changes meant to ease U.S. trade with Cuba.

Cuban rum and cigars will now be subject to the same duties as alcohol and tobacco from other countries, meaning most travelers will be able to bring back as many as 100 cigars and several bottles of rum. Because high-end Cuban cigars can sell for more than $100 apiece outside Cuba, every U.S. traveler can now legally bring back many thousands of dollars of Cuban products, potentially generating hundreds of millions of dollars in new annual revenue for the Cuban state. The previous limit restricted travelers to a combined value of $100 in rum and cigars, although enforcement of the limit notably declined after President Barack Obama declared detente with Cuba in December 2014.

“Challenges remain – and very real differences between our governments persist on issues of democracy and human rights – but I believe that engagement is the best way to address those differences and make progress on behalf of our interests and values,” Obama said in a statement announcing the changes.

Rum and cigar production is entirely government-run under Cuba’s centrally planned communist economy.

More than 160,000 American travelers visited Cuba last year and that figure is expected to double this year. Hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans visit family on the island each year and will also be able to take advantage of the new measure, which comes a month and a half before the restart of commercial flights to Havana after more than 50 years.

The package of regulatory changes announced Friday also allows cargo ships to visit U.S. ports directly after docking in Cuba. They had been barred from U.S. ports for 180 days after visiting Cuba. Cuba blamed that measure for harming its ability to import and export and dampening hopes that a new military-run port in the city of Mariel could serve as a major link in the regional cargo shipping system.</s>U.S. President Barack Obama has lifted all restrictions on the amount of rum and Cuban cigars U.S. travellers are allowed to bring home from Cuba in an effort to normalize relations with the communist-ruled island.

A new round of executive actions announced by the Obama administration Friday aims to establish trade links with Cuba and ease restrictions that have been in place for a generation. The news follows announcements that Putin is considering restoring a Russian Military base there.

Under the new rules, which go into effect Monday, travelers can purchase unlimited quantities of Cuban rum and cigars in any country where they are sold so long as they are for personal consumption. Sorry American couch potatoes: You can’t order Cuban rum and cigars online and have them shipped to your home.

The regulations issued by the U.S. departments of Commerce and Treasury will make it easier for U.S. companies to import Cuban-made pharmaceuticals, U.S. agricultural companies to sell their products to the island and Cubans to purchase U.S.-made goods online.

The changes follow a series of steps taken since President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced on Dec. 17, 2014, that the Cold War foes would normalize relations after more than a half century of enmity.

On Friday, Obama added to the regulatory changes with a presidential policy directive that outlines his Cuba strategy thus far and lays out the future course. It includes a call for Congress to rescind a 50-year-old economic embargo on the island, something lawmakers have been unwilling to do so long as the Castro regime suppresses political and other freedoms.

The goal of the new regulations and policy directive are to make Obama’s Cuba policy “irreversible” by establishing so many relationships with Cuba that a future administration wanting to scale back those ties would face widespread opposition from U.S. businesses and citizens.

“Challenges remain — and very real differences between our governments persist on issues of democracy and human rights — but I believe that engagement is the best way to address those differences and make progress on behalf of our interests and values,” Obama said. “The progress of the last two years, bolstered by today’s action, should remind the world of what’s possible when we look to the future together.”

The most noticeable — and likely most welcome — change for most Americans is the removal of the five-decade ban on Cuban rum and cigars. The Obama administration partially lifted that ban in January 2015, allowing Americans traveling directly to Cuba to return home with up to $100 in rum and cigars in their carry-on luggage.

Now, that monetary restriction is removed and U.S. citizens can purchase as much Cuban tobacco and alcohol as they want from anywhere they find the products abroad. That means all those Cuban bottles and boxes at duty free shops in foreign airports are fair game. The only restriction, according to Treasury: “Normal limits on duty and tax exemptions will apply.”
• Cuban pharmaceuticals can receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and be marketed, sold and distributed in the U.S. American scientists will be allowed to work on joint medical research with their Cuban counterparts.
• Cargo ships can visit U.S. ports immediately after departing Cuba. Vessels previously were barred from loading or unloading freight at a U.S. port for 180 days after docking in Cuba.
• Americans can award more grants in larger amounts to Cubans.
• U.S. businesses can work in Cuba to develop the country’s civil aviation security system. U.S. airlines recently began regularly-scheduled commercial flights to Cuba, which has raised concerns among some in Congress that Cuba’s airports are not equipped to secure U.S.-bound flights.
• Cubans can purchase U.S.-made goods online, although the Cuban government tightly restricts Internet access.

“Already we’re seeing what the United States and Cuba can accomplish when we put aside the past and work to build a brighter future,” White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice said in a speech in Washington on Friday “You can now celebrate with Cuban rum and Cuban cigars,” she joked.

Some U.S. businesses said Obama didn’t go far enough in what may be the last round of relaxed rules during his presidency.

John Kavulich, president of the New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, said businesses were hoping to see a variety of other changes, including an expansion of exports to Cuba and the ability of Cubans to establish bank accounts in the U.S.

“Boardrooms and offices across the country are gratified that President Obama has made meaningful changes to regulations governing commerce and travel with Cuba,” he said. “However, the President has again chosen a less-than-dynamic regulatory path, and, as a result, challenged his legacy-building efforts with Cuba.”</s>Americans traveling to Cuba will be allowed to bring home more of the communist-ruled island's coveted cigars and rum under new measures announced by the U.S. government on Friday to further ease trade, travel and financial restrictions that have been in place for decades.

Cuba welcomed the steps, part of President Barack Obama's effort to make his historic opening to Cuba “irreversible” by the time he leaves office in January, but said they did not go far enough.

The latest in a series of new rules since the former Cold War foes began normalizing relations in 2014 will allow Cubans to buy certain U.S. consumer goods online, open the door for Cuban pharmaceutical companies to do business in the United States and let Cubans and Americans do joint medical research.

For American travelers, the biggest change is the removal of limits on the amount of rum and cigars they can pack in their luggage, strictly for personal use.

“You can now celebrate with Cuban rum and Cuban cigars," U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice quipped as she laid out the policy changes in a speech to a Washington think tank.

U.S. law still bans general tourism to Cuba, but the administration has used previous regulatory packages to make it easier for Americans to visit the island under 12 officially authorized categories.

The latest measures are part of an executive order on Cuba through which Obama seeks to sidestep the Republican-controlled Congress, which has resisted his call to lift Washington's economic embargo after more than 50 years.

Republican critics say Obama is making too many concessions to Cuba for too little in return, especially on human rights issues. “After two years of President Obama's Cuba policy, the Castro regime has made out like bandits,” said U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American lawmaker from Florida.

The steps allow Cuban pharmaceutical companies to apply for U.S. regulatory approval, let U.S. firms improve Cuban infrastructure for humanitarian purposes and authorize them to provide safety-related aircraft services in Cuba, where U.S. airlines are beginning regularly scheduled flights.

Also under the new rules, after docking in Cuba, some foreign ships carrying certain cargo will be permitted to travel directly to U.S. ports to load or unload freight. Until now, such vessels have been required to wait 180 days, a restriction that Cuban officials say hinders their import export trade.

Josefina Vidal, the Cuban Foreign Ministry's chief of U.S. affairs, told a news conference in Havana the measures were "positive but of a very limited nature".

“Today, I approved a Presidential Policy Directive that takes another major step forward in our efforts to normalize relations with Cuba,” Obama said in a statement.

Less than a month before the Nov. 8 presidential election, Obama said his goal was to “make our opening to Cuba irreversible.”

The latest package, the administration's sixth, is likely to be the “last significant tranche of changes” during Obama's tenure, said a senior official, who asked not to be named.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton backs the policy of rapprochement with Havana. Republican Donald Trump has vowed to roll back Obama's executive actions.

Vidal criticized Obama's directive for making it clear the U.S. aimed to “promote change in Cuba's economic, political and social system", failing to respect its sovereignty.

In March, Obama made the first visit to Havana by a U.S. president in 88 years. His trip was made possible by his breakthrough agreement with Cuban President Raul Castro in December 2014 to cast aside decades of hostility that began soon after Cuba's 1959 revolution.

Since the opening, Obama has repeatedly used his executive powers to relax trade and travel restrictions, while pushing Cuba to accelerate market-style reforms and boost political and economic freedom.

“The changes announced to Cuba regulations are, by definition, significant because they are new,” said John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. "Whether they will be relevant depends upon the government of Cuba's willingness to permit United States companies and institutions to engage.”

“This new directive consolidates and builds upon the changes we've already made,” Obama said. He added, however, that "challenges remain - and very real differences between our governments persist on issues of democracy and human rights.”

At the same time, the U.S. embargo against Cuba has remained in place, a major irritant in relations. Only Congress can lift the embargo, and the Republican leadership is not expected to allow such a move anytime soon. — Reuters</s>Over the past two years, President Barack Obama has made history by softening restrictions on trade and travel with Cuba. This is especially important for Miamians with Cuban roots — allowing them to travel more freely to visit family and friends or simply to discover their history firsthand.

Today the Obama administration went one step further in the United States' relationship with Cuba by lifting restrictions on the purchase of Cuban cigars and rum.

U.S. travelers to the island nation can now return with an unlimited amount of booze and cigars, according to the Treasury Department.

According to an amended Cuba Fact Sheet issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury:



Importation of Cuban-origin merchandise as accompanied baggage for personal use. OFAC is removing the monetary value limitations on what authorized travelers may import from Cuba into the United States as accompanied baggage. This includes the value limitation on alcohol and tobacco products. Persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction will be further authorized to import Cuban-origin merchandise acquired in third countries into the United States as accompanied baggage, again without value limitations. OFAC is also removing the prohibition on foreign travelers importing Cuban-origin alcohol and tobacco products into the United States as accompanied baggage. In all cases, the Cuban origin goods must be imported for personal use, and normal limits on duty and tax exemptions will apply. 



That means all Cuban goods — including tobacco products and alcohol — can be brought back in unlimited amounts. Previously, U.S. travelers could bring back no more than $100 worth of items.

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said, “These amendments will create more opportunities for Cuban citizens to access American goods and services, further strengthening the ties between our two countries.”

Even though flights from Miami International Airport to Havana are now a common sight, restrictions on travel to Cuba still exist. U.S. citizens must obtain a visa and can travel only for educational, journalistic, or humanitarian purposes or to visit family. Tour operators set up trips with various cultural themes, such as food or music, to circumvent the restrictions. Looks like an educational rum-tasting journey might be the new trend this fall.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration announced today it is eliminating a $100 limit on the value of Cuban rum and cigars that American travelers can bring back from the island.

The administration is also lifting limits on cargo ship travel between the U.S. and Cuba and easing U.S. and Cuban researchers’ ability to conduct joint medical research. The measures are contained in a package of relatively small-scale regulatory changes meant to ease U.S. trade with Cuba.

Cuban rum and cigars will now be subject to the same duties as alcohol and tobacco from other countries, meaning most travelers will be able to bring back as many as 100 cigars and several bottles of rum. Because high-end Cuban cigars can sell for more than $100 apiece outside Cuba, every U.S. traveler can now legally bring back many thousands of dollars of Cuban products, potentially generating hundreds of millions of dollars in new annual revenue for the Cuban state. The previous limit restricted travelers to a combined value of $100 in rum and cigars, although enforcement of the limit notably declined after President Barack Obama declared detente with Cuba in December 2014.

“Challenges remain - and very real differences between our governments persist on issues of democracy and human rights - but I believe that engagement is the best way to address those differences and make progress on behalf of our interests and values,” Obama said in a statement announcing the changes.</s>More than a half-century after President John Kennedy made Cuban cigars and rum contraband, President Barack Obama announced Friday morning he will lift restrictions on the treasured vices, allowing American tourists to bring home all the Cuban rum and cigars they wish.The executive action, which goes into effect Monday, Oct. 17, allows Americans to purchase unlimited quantities of Cuban rum and cigars in any country where they are sold as long as they are for personal consumption. No online or direct mail sales/deliveries to U.S. homes or businesses are allowed under the new rule. Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter joined eight other governors in October 2015 calling for the suspension of travel and trade embargoes against the island nation.Otter last led an Idaho delegation to Cuba in 2007, including dozens of business leaders and government officials. An official release from the governor's office touted deals to sell biotechnology, seed potatoes and plenty of meat. Otter has been to Cuba no fewer than four times—three times as a congressman and a fourth time as governor in 2007.Friday's White House announcement comes in the wake of Obama's decision to normalize relations with the Communist country."The progress of the last two years, bolstered by today's action, should remind the world of what's possible when we look to the future together," said Obama in Friday's announcement.
President Barack Obama issues an executive order on Cuba lifting monetary limits on the amount of Cuban products, including cigars and rum, which Americans can bring back for personal use, allowing Cubans and Americans to engage in joint medical research, and allowing Cubans to buy certain U.S. consumer goods online.