Do Proposed Changes in U.S. and Cuba Trade Policies Signal Opportunities for the Coatings Industry

By Allen Irish

Following the White House announce­ment of a significant change in longstand­ing U.S. policy on Cuba, the two primary agencies that govern trade and commer­cial relations with Cuba-the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) are acting to broadly facili­tate commerce with Cuba. This article explores those changes, and details what they might mean for coatings manufactur­ers interested in the Cuban market.

Cuba has been subject to trade sanc­tions since the Kennedy administration. These are unilateral and comprehensive, have prohibited most exports and imports, and have generally precluded most interaction with Cuba by persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction, including travel and financial transactions.1 This changed on December 17, 2014 when the White House announced a set of measures that it expects will put relations between the United States and Cuba on the track toward full normalization.

There are a number of areas the administration addressed, including establishing diplo­matic relations, removing some existing restrictions on travel, etc. A key element of the administration announcement includes the authorization of expanded commercial sales/exports from the United States of certain goods and services “to empower the nascent Cuban private sec­tor.” This expansion specifically includes “certain building materials for private