I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1898 

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 

MARCH 27, 2019 

Mr. CRAWFORD (for himself and Mrs. BUSTOS) 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 lends itself to low transportation costs for 

6 United States goods exported to Cuba. The United 

7 States is geographically poised to be a significant 

8 trading partner in agricultural commodities. 

9 (2) Cuba imports approximately 80 percent of 

10 its food, with global agricultural exports to Cuba 

11 doubling over the past decade to $1,900,000,000. 

12 (3) In 2015, the Obama administration re13 versed a prior rule of the Department of the Treas14 ury that defined ‘‘cash in advance’’ to require that 

15 cash payments must be made before United States 

16 products leave United States ports. The new rule de17 fines ‘‘cash in advance’’ as ‘‘cash before transfer of 

18 title’’, facilitating more efficient trade with Cuba. 

19 (4) The Trump administration has retained this 

20 definition and stated in its National Security Presi21 dential Memorandum on Cuba that forthcoming reg22 ulatory changes shall not prohibit transactions that 

23 support the sale of agricultural commodities con24 sistent with the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export 

25 Enhancement Act of 2000. 


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1 (5) United States agricultural exporters are still 

2 not permitted to extend credit to Cuban buyers, in3 cluding ALIMPORT, a State-owned and State-con4 trolled entity that makes all decisions regarding 

5 United States exports to the Cuban market. As a re6 sult, United States agricultural exports to Cuba 

7 have declined and United States exporters face a key 

8 disadvantage relative to other exporting countries. 

9 Notably, rice exports fell from a value of 

10 $64,000,000 in 2004 to essentially $0 in 2009 and 

11 subsequent years. 

12 (6) Despite these restrictions, the United States 

13 has been the largest exporter of agricultural goods 

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

15 States slipped to being the second leading exporter 

16 of agricultural goods to Cuba in 2013 and the third 

17 leading exporter of agricultural goods to Cuba in 

18 2014. For many of Cuba’s top agricultural imports, 

19 such as wheat, rice, and dairy, there have been no 

20 transactions with the United States in well over a 

21 decade. 

22 (7) While trade opportunities exist, Cuba re23 mains an undemocratic autocracy that oppresses its 

24 own people and restricts freedom. 


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1 (8) 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) IN GENERAL.—Section 908 of the Trade Sanc11 tions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 

12 U.S.C. 7207) is amended as follows: 

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

14 FINANCING’’. 

15 (2) In subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara19 graph (B), paragraph (1) shall not apply with 

20 respect to— 

21 ‘‘(i) exports to Cuba under section 

22 202 of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 

23 (7 U.S.C. 5622), section 203 of the Agri24 cultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 


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1 5623), or section 702 of the Agricultural 

2 Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5722); or 

3 ‘‘(ii) any obligation or expenditure of 

4 funds to promote trade with Cuba by Fed5 eral commodity promotion programs estab6 lished in accordance with a commodity pro7 motion law, as defined by section 501(a) of 

8 the Federal Agriculture Improvement and 

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

10 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTION ON CERTAIN RECIPI11 ENTS.—The exceptions under subparagraph (A) 

12 shall not apply if the recipient of the United 

13 States assistance would be an entity controlled 

14 by the Government of Cuba, including the Rev15 olutionary Armed Forces of Cuba, the Ministry 

16 of the Interior of Cuba, and any subdivision of 

17 either such governmental entity.’’. 

18 (3) In subsection (b), to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(b) FINANCING OF SALES OF AGRICULTURAL COM20 MODITIES TO CUBA.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person subject to the ju22 risdiction of the United States may provide payment 

23 or financing for sales of agricultural commodities to 

24 Cuba or to an individual or entity in Cuba. 

25 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(A) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY.—The 

2 term ‘agricultural commodity’ has the meaning 

3 given that term in section 102 of the Agricul4 tural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5602). 

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

6 includes any loan or extension of credit.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (f)(4) 

8 of section 203 of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 

9 U.S.C. 5623), as amended by section 3201 of title III of 

10 the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Public Law 

11 115–334), is further amended by striking ‘‘Notwith12 standing’’ and all that follows through ‘‘funds made avail13 able’’ and inserting ‘‘Funds made available’’. 

14 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF PERSONS SUBJECT TO THE JURIS15 DICTION OF THE UNITED STATES TO INVEST 

16 WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN AGRICULTURAL 

17 BUSINESS IN CUBA. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi19 sion of law, a person subject to the jurisdiction of the 

20 United States may make an investment with respect to 

21 the development of an agricultural business in Cuba if the 

22 Secretary of State and Secretary of Agriculture jointly de23 termine that— 

24 (1) the agricultural business is not controlled by 

25 the Government of Cuba, including the RevoluVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Apr 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1898.IH H1898

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1 tionary Armed Forces of Cuba, the Ministry of the 

2 Interior of Cuba, or any subdivision of either such 

3 governmental entity; and 

4 (2) the agricultural business does not traffic in 

5 the property of persons subject to the jurisdiction of 

6 the United States that was confiscated by the Cuban 

7 Government on or after January 1, 1959. 

8 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘ag10 ricultural business’’ means any entity involved in the 

11 production, manufacture, or distribution of agricul12 tural products (as such term is defined in section 

13 207 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 

14 U.S.C. 1626)). 

15 (2) CONFISCATED, CUBAN GOVERNMENT, PROP16 ERTY, AND TRAFFIC.—The terms ‘‘confiscated’’, 

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

18 have the meanings given such terms in section 4 of 

19 the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity 

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

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

22 with respect to the development of an agricultural 

23 business in Cuba, means— 

24 (A) entry into a contract involving the pur25 chase of a share of ownership, including an eqVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Apr 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1898.IH H1898

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1 uity interest, in the development of the agricul2 tural business; 

3 (B) entry into a contract providing for par4 ticipation in royalties, earnings, or profits in 

5 the development of the agricultural business; or 

6 (C) entry into, or performance or financing 

7 of, a contract to sell goods, services, or tech8 nology relating to the agricultural business. 

Æ 


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