I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3687 

To modify the prohibition on United States assistance and financing for 

certain exports to Cuba under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export 

Enhancement Act of 2000, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 6, 2015 

Mr. CRAWFORD (for himself, Mr. CONAWAY, and Mr. POE of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To modify the prohibition on United States assistance and 

financing for certain exports to Cuba under the Trade 

Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cuba Agricultural Ex5 ports Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The United States has a long history of 

4 providing safe and reliable exports. Close proximity 

5 to Cuba further lends itself to low transportation 

6 costs for United States goods exported to Cuba. The 

7 United States is geographically poised to be a sig8 nificant trading partner in agricultural commodities. 

9 United States and Cuban borders are less than 100 

10 miles apart, meaning lower shipping costs and short11 er transit times compared to our competitors. 

12 (2) Cuba imports approximately 80 percent of 

13 its food, with global agricultural exports to Cuba 

14 doubling over the past decade to $1.9 billion. 

15 (3) In 2005, the United States Department of 

16 the Treasury published a final rule narrowing the 

17 definition of ‘‘cash in advance’’ for trading with 

18 Cuba, requiring that cash payments must be made 

19 before United States products leave United States 

20 ports, rather than the more customary payment 

21 upon delivery. United States firms are precluded 

22 from offering credit to ALIMPORT, a state-owned 

23 and state-controlled entity that makes all decisions 

24 regarding United States imports to the Cuban mar25 ket, resulting in declining United States agricultural 

26 exports to Cuba. Notably, rice exports fell from a 


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1 value of $64 million in 2004 to essentially $0 in 

2 2009 and subsequent years. Recent action by the 

3 Administration reverses that change to the definition 

4 of cash in advance, but United States agricultural 

5 exporters are still not permitted to extend credit to 

6 Cuban buyers, a key disadvantage relative to other 

7 exporting nations. 

8 (4) Despite these restrictions, the United States 

9 has been the largest exporter of agricultural goods 

10 to Cuba over the last decade. However, the United 

11 States slipped to being the second leading exporter 

12 of agricultural goods to Cuba in 2013 and the third 

13 leading exporter of agricultural goods to Cuba in 

14 2014. 

15 (5) While trade opportunities exist, Cuba re16 mains an undemocratic autocracy that oppresses its 

17 own people and restricts freedom. 

18 (6) In addition, there is no opportunity for 

19 United States agricultural businesses to trade di20 rectly with the Cuban people and there is no Cuban 

21 market. At present, there is just one opportunity for 

22 United States businesses to trade with Cuba and 

23 that is through ALIMPORT, the state-owned and 

24 state-controlled entity described in paragraph (3). 


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1 (7) With these cautionary factors in mind, it is 

2 important to provide United States farmers and 

3 ranchers additional opportunities to benefit from 

4 trade with Cuba. 

5 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF PROHIBITION ON UNITED 

6 STATES ASSISTANCE AND FINANCING FOR 

7 CERTAIN EXPORTS TO CUBA UNDER THE 

8 TRADE SANCTIONS REFORM AND EXPORT EN9 HANCEMENT ACT OF 2000. 

10 (a) ASSISTANCE FOR EXPORTS TO CUBA.—Section 

11 908 of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhance12 ment Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7207) is amended— 

13 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AND

14 FINANCING’’; 

15 (2) by striking subsection (b); 

16 (3) in subsection (a)— 

17 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 

18 (3) as subsections (b) and (c), respectively, and 

19 by moving such subsections, as so redesignated, 

20 2 ems to the left; and 

21 (B) by adding at the end of subsection (a) 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara25 graph (B), paragraph (1) shall not apply with 


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1 respect to exports to Cuba under section 202 of 

2 the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 

3 5622), section 203 of the Agricultural Trade 

4 Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5623), or section 702 of 

5 the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 

6 5722), including any obligation or expenditure 

7 of funds by Federal commodity promotion pro8 grams established in accordance with a com9 modity promotion law, as defined by section 

10 501(a) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement 

11 and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7401(a)). 

12 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTION ON CERTAIN RECIPI13 ENTS.—The exception under subparagraph (A) 

14 shall not apply if the recipient of the United 

15 States assistance would be an entity controlled 

16 by the Government of Cuba, including the Rev17 olutionary Armed Forces of Cuba, the Ministry 

18 of the Interior of Cuba, or any subdivision of ei19 ther governmental entity.’’; 

20 (4) in subsection (b), as so redesignated, by 

21 striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

22 (a)’’; and 

23 (5) in subsection (c), as so redesignated, by 

24 striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

25 (a)(1)’’. 


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1 (b) FINANCING OF SALES OF AGRICULTURAL COM2 MODITIES TO CUBA.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

4 provision of law (other than section 908 of the 

5 Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement 

6 Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7207), as amended by sub7 section (a)), a person subject to the jurisdiction of 

8 the United States may provide payment or financing 

9 terms for sales of agricultural commodities to Cuba 

10 or an individual or entity in Cuba. 

11 (2) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (A) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY.—The 

13 term ‘‘agricultural commodity’’ has the meaning 

14 given the term in section 102 of the Agricul15 tural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5602). 

16 (B) FINANCING.—The term ‘‘financing’’ 

17 includes any loan or extension of credit. 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section take effect on the date of the enactment of 

20 this Act and apply with respect to exports to Cuba on or 

21 after such date of enactment. 


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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF PERSONS SUBJECT TO THE JURIS2 DICTION OF THE UNITED STATES TO INVEST 

3 WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN AGRICULTURAL 

4 BUSINESS IN CUBA. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of law, a person subject to the jurisdiction of the 

7 United States may make an investment with respect to 

8 the development of an agricultural business in Cuba if the 

9 Secretary of State and Secretary of Agriculture jointly de10 termine that— 

11 (1) the agricultural business is not controlled by 

12 the Government of Cuba, including the Revolu13 tionary Armed Forces of Cuba, the Ministry of the 

14 Interior of Cuba, or any subdivision of either govern15 mental entity; and 

16 (2) the agricultural business does not traffic in 

17 property of persons subject to the jurisdiction of the 

18 United States which was confiscated by the Cuban 

19 Government on or after January 1, 1959. 

20 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘ag22 ricultural business’’ means any entity involved in the 

23 production, manufacture, or distribution of agricul24 tural products (as such term is defined in section 

25 207 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 

26 U.S.C. 1626)). 


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1 (2) CONFISCATED, CUBAN GOVERNMENT, PROP2 ERTY, AND TRAFFIC.—The terms ‘‘confiscated’’, 

3 ‘‘Cuban Government’’, ‘‘property’’, and ‘‘traffic’’ 

4 have the meaning given such terms in section 4 of 

5 the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity 

6 (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 6023). 

7 (3) INVESTMENT.—The term ‘‘investment’’, 

8 with respect to the development of an agricultural 

9 business in Cuba, means— 

10 (A) entry into a contract involving the pur11 chase of a share of ownership, including an eq12 uity interest, in the development of the agricul13 tural business; 

14 (B) entry into a contract providing for par15 ticipation in royalties, earnings, or profits in 

16 the development of the agricultural business; or 

17 (C) entry into, or performance or financing 

18 of, a contract to sell goods, services, or tech19 nology relating to the agricultural business. 

Æ 


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