Cuban Assets Control Regulations
US regulatory framework governing permitted economic transactions with Cuba; administered by OFAC since 1963.
The Cuban Assets Control Regulations, in force since 1963, became the base layer of a three-tier US sanctions architecture through 2026, most recently exposed on 13 July when OFAC guided two designated firms through a wind-down but left tourism-sector counterparties with no cover at all.
Last refreshed: 17 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
When the new Cuba EO needed a foundation, OFAC reached for a 1963 ruleset; why?
Timeline for Cuban Assets Control Regulations
Background
The Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) are the primary US regulatory framework governing economic transactions with Cuba, administered by OFAC within the US Treasury Department under the Trading with the Enemy Act and related statutory authorities. They establish the licensing system for the narrow categories of transaction the US permits with Cuba: remittances, travel, agricultural sales under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act, and telecommunications.
The CACR date to 1963 and have been amended repeatedly across administrations: President Obama's 2014-2016 normalisation expanded CACR licences for travel, remittances and commercial activity; the first Trump administration reversed much of that expansion; President Biden partially restored it. That back-and-forth history is why the framework remains the reference point every new Cuba sanctions action gets tested against, rather than a settled body of rules.
Three Republican members of Congress from South Florida wrote to Treasury on 11 February 2026 demanding a comprehensive purge of CACR specific licences; Treasury has not published a response.
CACR now anchors three sanctions layers
President Trump's Executive Order 14380, signed 29 January 2026, made the CACR the licensing base for a new secondary-tariff mechanism reaching third-country oil suppliers, well beyond the CACR's traditional US-persons jurisdiction. On 7 May, OFAC formally numbered a further order, Executive Order 14404, and issued Cuba General License 1 as a savings clause aligning the new personal-designations track with the pre-existing CACR framework, without expanding any CACR-authorised transaction category.
By 13 July, the layering showed its gaps: OFAC guided two of ten newly designated firms, GECOMEX and GEMAR, through a 30-day wind-down to 12 August, but issued nothing for the Ministry of Tourism, designated the same day, leaving travel agents and card processors handling live Cuba bookings with no published cover.