The Obama administration is now allowing more collaboration on medical research and the approval of Cuban drugs for import. | AP Photo Obama relaxes trade restrictions with Cuba

The administration further relaxed economic restrictions on Cuba Friday, allowing more collaboration on medical research, the approval of Cuban drugs for import and the lifting of monetary limits on cigars and rum imports.

The moves make the U.S. openings to Cuba "irreversible," President Barack Obama said in a statement.


The latest changes build on the president's announcement in December 2014 to chart a new course for the U.S.-Cuba relationship, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in a statement.

“The Treasury Department has worked to break down economic barriers in areas such as travel, trade and commerce, banking and telecommunications," Lew said. "Today’s action builds on this progress by enabling more scientific collaboration, grants and scholarships, people-to-people contact, and private sector growth."

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

The lifting of the limit on cigars and rum applies only to authorized travelers to Cuba.

The Office of Foreign Asset Control "is removing the monetary value limitations on what authorized travelers may import from Cuba into the United States as accompanied baggage," the Treasury and Commerce departments said.

All of the changes are intended to expand opportunities for scientific collaboration by authorizing certain transactions related to Cuban-origin pharmaceuticals and joint medical research; improve living conditions for Cubans by expanding existing authorizations for grants and humanitarian-related services, and increase people-to-people contact in Cuba by facilitating authorized travel and commerce, the departments said. They also facilitate safe travel between the United States and Cuba by authorizing civil aviation safety-related services; and bolster trade and commercial opportunities by expanding and streamlining authorizations relating to trade and commerce.

The announcement is the latest of the administration's efforts to establish normal trade and diplomatic relations with the country short of Congress lifting the decades-old embargo. In March, Obama became the first sitting president to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge. The U.S. reopened its embassy in Havana in July 2015.

“We obviously are operating in the constraints of the embargo,” a senior administration official said Friday during a press call. “We believe Congress should take steps to lift that embargo but we will do what can within that context to make these policy changes irreversible.”

With the administration believing the changes have been guided by common sense, the official said it appeared unlikely a future president would end the direct flights now available, roll back new trade openings or withdraw U.S. presence from Havana.

“We think it’s very unlikely any future president would think it makes any sense to close an embassy and essentially remove the benefits of having a diplomatic presence,” the official said.

Last month, Obama nominated career foreign service officer Jeffrey DeLaurentis to serve as envoy to the country but the selection is unlikely to be confirmed by the Senate this year.

“It’s hard to understand why we can have an ambassador to China but we can’t have an ambassador to Cuba,” the official said.

The latest move will authorize collaboration between U.S. and Cuban medical researchers, allow U.S. citizens to provide services to improve Cuba’s infrastructure and remove dollar limitations on the import of cigar, alcohol and other goods for personal use.

The new policy will also allow personal goods ranging from air conditioners to toothbrushes to be sent directly to Cuban citizens. It also removes caps on the amount of remittances U.S. citizens can send to Cuban relatives, which the administration hopes will create growth in the private sector, an administration official said.

Since the administration announced it’s new Cuba policy in 2014, the administrative changes have enabled a potential $6 billion in new trade opportunities, an administration official said.

The administration’s policy has been geared toward promoting growth in the private sector outside of Cuba’s state-run economy, but many of the changes announced today could directly benefit government-owned enterprises producing cigars, rum and pharmaceuticals.

Despite that, an official defended the regulatory changes as having broad-based benefits for the Cuban people because they create more openness in vital sectors like healthcare and tourism.

“We have designed the policy very much to have the maximum benefit to the Cuban people,” the official said. “But in so doing we are not restricting engagement with the Cuban state.”

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