Pedro Freyre, International Practice Chair, Augusto Maxwell, Cuba Practice Chair, and Matthew Aho published an article in Global Trade analyzing potential changes in Cuba policy under President Joseph Biden. The Biden Administration has indicated their interest in reversing certain sanctions placed on Cuba while Donald Trump was in office. The full scope and timing of any potential changes have yet to be announced, but Aho, Freyre, and Maxwell predict they will include addressing remittance flows to Cuban Americans and removing some restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba. They also make note of the political importance for both administrations to engage with Cuban American voters, and how that might impact policy decisions.

“While it seems likely that President Biden will take his own first Cuba policy steps sometime in the next few months by replacing NSPM-5 with a statement of his own administration’s priorities, how far he will go in reversing specific Trump-era restrictions is difficult to predict. However, U.S. companies with Cuba-related interests should get a better sense of the likely future contours of U.S.-Cuba relations soon and initial indications are that Cuba sanctions will become less restrictive under Biden than his predecessor.”