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) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services and Ag-
riculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cuba Agricultural Ex-
ports Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The United States has a long history of 
providing safe and reliable exports. Close proximity 
to Cuba further lends itself to low transportation 
costs for United States goods exported to Cuba. The 
United States is geographically poised to be a sig-
nificant trading partner in agricultural commodities. 
United States and Cuban borders are less than 100 
miles apart, meaning lower shipping costs and short-
er transit times compared to our competitors. 
(2) Cuba imports approximately 80 percent of 
its food, with global agricultural exports to Cuba 
doubling over the past decade to $1.9 billion. 
(3) In 2005, the United States Department of 
the Treasury published a final rule narrowing the 
definition of ‘‘cash in advance’’ for trading with 
Cuba, requiring that cash payments must be made 
before United States products leave United States 
ports, rather than the more customary payment 
upon delivery. United States firms are precluded 
from offering credit to ALIMPORT, a state-owned 
and state-controlled entity that makes all decisions 
regarding United States imports to the Cuban mar-
ket, resulting in declining United States agricultural 
exports to Cuba. Notably, rice exports fell from a 
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value of $64 million in 2004 to essentially $0 in 
2009 and subsequent years. Recent action by the 
Administration reverses that change to the definition 
of cash in advance, but United States agricultural 
exporters are still not permitted to extend credit to 
Cuban buyers, a key disadvantage relative to other 
exporting nations. 
(4) Despite these restrictions, the United States 
has been the largest exporter of agricultural goods 
to Cuba over the last decade. However, the United 
States slipped to being the second leading exporter 
of agricultural goods to Cuba in 2013 and the third 
leading exporter of agricultural goods to Cuba in 
2014. 
(5) While trade opportunities exist, Cuba re-
mains an undemocratic autocracy that oppresses its 
own people and restricts freedom. 
(6) In addition, there is no opportunity for 
United States agricultural businesses to trade di-
rectly with the Cuban people and there is no Cuban 
market. At present, there is just one opportunity for 
United States businesses to trade with Cuba and 
that is through ALIMPORT, the state-owned and 
state-controlled entity described in paragraph (3). 
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