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US Ends Ban on Financing of Exports to Cuba

By Colby Adams

U.S. Treasury Department officials on Tuesday lifted banking and export restrictions against Cuba they say have stymied yearlong efforts to normalize economic and diplomatic ties with the island-nation. The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has relaxed U.S. sanctions against Cuba three times since January 2015, but had not, until Tuesday, eliminated its prohibition on processing sales on open accounts or issuing letters of credit and other trade finance instruments linked to U.S. exports. Those restrictions, now slated to sunset on Wednesday, have forced American exporters of non-agricultural goods to accept only cash advances from Cuban buyers and obtain...

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