mr. borman. mr. borman: my understanding as that for virtually all imports they have to go through some import agency. mr. smith: the other difference is the financing terms. in most other contexts, the exporter could get financing of some kind from the u.s. or the importer. sen. boozman: thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you all for being here. sen. roberts: senator donnelly. sen. donnelly: thank you. i'm a big supporter of increasing exports to our markets and i'm intrigued to the possibility of opening the cuban market. not only for huseeshes but all of the country to export the goods we produce. the concern is, i want to make sure that the cuban people actually benefit from it. what can we do from a policy perspective to better ensure that the benefits of trade reach the cuban people, as opposed to all the products going into one agency and then being divvied out? what do you see as the keys to making sure the cuban people benefit from this? mr. scuse: senator, i think that by normalizing relatio

mr. borman. mr. rman: my understanding as that for virtually all imports they have to go through some import agency. mr. smith: the other difference is the financing terms. in most other contexts, the exporter could get financing of some kind from the u.s. or the importer. sen. boozman: thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you all for being here. sen. roberts: senator donnelly. sen. donnelly: thank you. i'm a big supporter of increasing exports to our markets and i'm intrigued to the possibility of opening the cuban market. not only for hoosiers but for the entire country. the concern is, i want to make sure that the cuban people actually benefit from it. what can we do from a policy perspective to better ensure that the benefits of trade reach the cuban people, as opposed to all the products going into one agency and then being divvied out? what do you see as the keys to making sure the cuban people benefit from this? mr. scuse: senator, i think that by normalizing relations, by breaking down the restr

mr. borman: thank you.inaudible] in the executive branch to identify ways that we could facilitate trade to the private sector in cuba within the bounds of the existing embargo. that is how we came from license requirements to license exceptions. since the announcement of our regulations, we've done several dozen outreach events in washington and across the country where we explain the changes and answer questions. we probably talk to, as part of these events, well over 3000 people. we continue to solicit feedback from those that want to understand the regulations. sen. roberts: mr. smith. mr. smith: we worked very closely within the executive branch to utilize the comments we receive from the industry and members of congress about how we could better change our regulations. we have worked with other agencies to actively promote our regulatory changes so people know what the new rules are. sen. roberts: this is for undersecretary scuse. i've traveled to cuba as many others have done. i went down, we didn't

mr. borman: thank you, mr. chairman and thank you, ranking member stabenow and members of the committee. it's a pleasure to be here. of course i'll address the role of the department of commerce in regards to agricultural trade with cuba. as you know, in terms of the cuban embargo the congress is responsible for regulating exports to cuba and the treasury department is responsible for financial transactions including travel. as you know, on december 17 of 2014, the president announced the most significant changes in cuban policy in more than 50 years. as the president noted these changes are intended to create more opportunities for the american and cuban people by increasing commerce, travel, and the free flow of information. to implement these changes, we at the department of commerce and bureau industry and security amended our export regulations on january 16, 2015 to expand the authorization for exports and reexports of certain categories of items to cuba. principally expand the communication devices to he

mr. borman or mr.ith, what do you see as the biggest obstacleshe cuban side to increasing american agriculture exports. we clearly have issues there are human rights. it is our hope as negotiations go forward this will clearly be part of the negotiations. but when i was there i saw the double currency issue and some of the other things. what do you see as some of the obstacles to the trade? >> i think in addition to the al import issue the cuban government historically has not freely let goods come into the country. there that's putting it mildly. >> and also the development of private business. that's something that we're trying to encourage here to encourage that there is more money for individuals and more money for private businesses to be able to import. >> exactly. as you know, i think there's something like 600,000 entrepreneurs now this has loosened up recently. they have their own currency but they are still a long way to go. i will say ending that i just saw a spirit of entrepreneurship there

mr. borman, you and i talked specifically before the meeting about how do we make sure these restaurants and other small businesses that people in cuba are trying to get going, how do we support that effort as we do this? >> several ways. one is of course the folks who make the exports from the united states know who they're intended for and they typically know those individuals because they're often relatives running the bed and breakfast or the auto repair shop. if the items don't get to them, they'll hear about that. we have a good working relationship with a lot of our exporters on the enforcement side to make sure our items going where they're supposed to go. >> that's right on the mark. now you're talking about helping people with entrepreneurship, business enterprise, hopefully things to incentivize these businesses to get going. do you have way to enforce it to make sure they're getting to the small businesses. and the other thing is payment. how are you sure people are paid for products they ship into that market. >> right. so far we have not heard any complaints of u.s. exporte

mr. borman or mr. smith, what do you see as the biggest obstacles on the cuban side to increasing american agriculture exports. we clearly have issues there are human rights. it is our hope as negotiations go forward this will clearly be part of the negotiations. but when i was there i saw the double currency issue and some of the other things. what do you see as some of the obstacles to the trade? >> i think in addition to the al import issue, the cuban bureaucracy historically has not freely let goods come into the country. there that's putting it mildly. >> and also the development of private business. that's something that we're trying to encourage here to encourage that there is more money for individuals and more money for private businesses to be able to import. >> exactly. as you know, i think there's something like 600,000 entrepreneurs now this has loosened up recently. they have their own currency but they are still a long way to go. i will say ending that i just saw a spirit of entrepreneur