US eases rules on imports from private Cubans

The US State Department announced on Friday that Americans will be allowed to import goods and services from private Cuban entrepreneurs. Exceptions were, however, made for food and agricultural products, alcohol, minerals, chemicals, textiles, machinery, vehicles, arms and ammunition.

"The administration had made it very clear they are changing the thrust of US policy to allow the private sector in Cuba to blossom," Pedro Freyre, head of international practice at Florida-based law firm Akerman LLP, told reporters.

The imports would have to be produced by a Cuban operating in one of the dozens of categories of private business allowed by the government in Havana. Most of these categories are for services like car maintenance or watch repair, not for goods that could be easily exported. Cuban exports are usually produced and shipped by state-controlled enterprises and there is no indication whether the government in Havana is willing to allow private businesses on the communist island to trade directly with the United States.

Private sector entrepreneurs in Cuba cannot independently import or export products or services without a government license.

In short, no one should expect Cuban goods to start flowing to the US in large quantities anytime soon, Freyre said. However, the possibility of exporting goods to a massive market could inspire private businesses to begin developing products designed for export, he added. "It sets up the mechanism. It allows things to happen."

sas/sms (AP, Reuters)