Congress votes to end 60-year Cuba embargo, opening trade and travel
H.R. 7521 — United States-Cuba Trade Act of 2026 · Filed by Jim McGovern (D-MA) · 30 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 12, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill lifts the decades-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba by repealing the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 and the LIBERTAD Act of 1996, removing export controls, allowing unrestricted travel and remittances, and extending normal trade relations to Cuban goods. U.S. companies gain access to the Cuban market; Cuban citizens and diaspora gain the ability to travel freely and send money home without restriction; and the bill directs the President to negotiate claims settlements and human-rights protections.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is the removal of Cold War-era trade restrictions on Cuba. All operative sections—repeal of embargo statutes, removal of export controls, normalization of trade relations, and unrestricted travel and remittances—serve that single purpose. The title accurately describes the mechanism.
What the text implies
- Removal of the sugar quota prohibition (Food Security Act of 1985) may increase Cuban sugar imports, potentially affecting U.S. domestic sugar producers and prices for consumers.
- Repeal of Section 211 (intellectual property restrictions) may allow Cuban entities to conduct business using U.S. trademarks and patents previously blocked, creating new licensing and dispute opportunities.
- The bill permits the President to reimpose controls under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act if a 'new' national emergency is declared, preserving executive discretion to reverse normalization.
- Telecommunications carriers gain explicit authority to install and upgrade infrastructure in Cuba, creating new commercial opportunities but also potential regulatory gaps in service standards and data privacy.
- Remittance deregulation may increase capital flows to Cuba, benefiting diaspora families but also potentially enabling sanctions evasion if money-laundering controls (referenced in subsection (b)) are not enforced.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary Americans gain freedom to travel to Cuba without government restriction, lower-cost access to Cuban goods, and the ability to send remittances to family without caps. The broader public benefits from normalized trade relations, reduced Cold War-era restrictions on commerce, and a diplomatic opening that may improve human rights. The bill does not create new subsidies, tax carve-outs, or private monopolies—it removes government-imposed barriers.
Who stands to gain
- U.S. agricultural exporters (food, grain)
- U.S. telecommunications carriers and equipment manufacturers
- U.S. travel and tourism operators
- U.S. pharmaceutical and medical device companies
- Cuban diaspora and remittance service providers
- U.S. importers of Cuban goods (sugar, tobacco, rum)
Named in the bill
Cuba, United States, President, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, Congress, Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, Trading with the Enemy Act, Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996, Export Administration Act of 1979, Export Control Reform Act of 2018 — and 7 more
Where it stands
30 cosponsors: 30 Democrats.
- Feb 12, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 12, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Financial Services and House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,000,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 52 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Jim McGovern, the sponsor, reported $245,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Friends Committee on National Legislation — $1,000,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (9,789 characters) on Aug 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress votes to end 60-year Cuba embargo, opening trade and travel” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr7521 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.