Trump Admin Defies EU Threats, Allows Cuba-Related Claims

The Trump administration is defying explicit legal threats the European Union privately issued last week to top U.S. officials by moving forward with its plans to ratchet up pressure on Cuba by allowing U.S. nationals to file legal claims against foreign companies that do business there.

The bold move by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in conjunction with the White House is a stark example of the escalating economic tensions between the U.S. and Europe that are already playing out on Iran sanctions policy and President Trump’s decision to tear up the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal.

In a sternly worded April 10 letter from top European Commission trade officials to Pompeo, obtained by RealClearPolitics, the EC threatened to launch a World Trade Organization lawsuit against the United States if it moved forward with plans to end a waiver, known as Title III of the Helms-Burton Act.

The Helms-Burton Act, also known as the Libertad Act, groups together all of the U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba and has been in effect since 1996.

Ending the Helms-Burton waiver would allow U.S. citizens to sue individuals and companies – including European citizens and businesses -- in U.S. courts for commercial use of property they once owned but that was seized by the Cuban government after 1959.
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