U.S. Broadens Allowable Exports to Cuba

The United States is expanding authorized  exports to Cuba in the latest incremental steps to ease a Cold War-era trade ban on the communist-ruled island, the U.S. Treasury said Tuesday.

The rule changes, which go into effect Wednesday, will allow more U.S. exports related to disaster preparedness, education, agricultural production, food processing, public transportation and artistic endeavors.

Licenses for such exports that are deemed to be meeting the needs of the Cuban people will be granted on a case-by-case basis, the department said.

Also being removed are existing restrictions on payment and financing terms for authorized exports and reexports to Cuba, except agricultural products and commodities, it said.

The U.S. actions "send a clear message to the world: the United States is committed to empowering and enabling economic advancements for the Cuban people," Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said.

The two countries restored diplomatic relations in July after a historic rapprochement between U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuba's President Raul Castro the previous December.

Even so, the new openings were incremental as a more than half-century-old U.S. trade embargo on the island remains in place, with little prospect of repeal under a Republican-controlled Congress.

The Obama instead has focused on regulatory changes to ease travel and trade between the two countries, once bitter foes and now in the midst of a tentative reconciliation process.