Lifting Cuba embargo: travel, trade, and remittances freed after 33 years
S. 136 — United States-Cuba Trade Act of 2025 · Filed by Ron Wyden (D-OR) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 16, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill lifts the decades-long 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; 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 repeal of embargo statutes and removal of export controls on Cuba, coupled with normalization of trade relations and travel freedoms. This is a straightforward deregulation and trade-opening measure, not a hidden mechanism.
What the text implies
- Section 7 (remittance prohibition lift) removes caps on money transfers to Cuba but preserves money-laundering prosecution authority—creating potential tension between unrestricted remittances and enforcement of financial crimes, which may complicate compliance for ordinary citizens sending money to family.
- Section 5 directs the President to negotiate claims settlements for U.S. nationals whose property was seized by Cuba—a potentially large liability for the Cuban government that could become a sticking point in normalization talks and may not be resolved by this bill alone.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
U.S. agricultural exporters (sugar, grain, food products); U.S. telecommunications companies; U.S. travel and tourism operators