Senator Baucus Threatens to Block Treasury Department Nominees Over Cuba Policy Change
Senator Max Baucus of Montana, the senior Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, today threatened to block the confirmation of future Treasury Department nominees unless the Bush administration backs down on rules that could impact agricultural trade with Cuba. "I am prepared to hold up the next significant Treasury Department nominee until this gets resolved," said Baucus.
The issue that Senator Baucus is concerned with relates to a recent policy change relating to agricultural exports to Cuba. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently changed its interpretation of the term "cash in advance" to specify that shipments to Cuba may not leave the U.S. until payment is received. Until recently, the standard practice was that payment would be made by wire transfer to the U.S. seller's bank once the products arrived in Cuba, but before the goods were unloaded or title was transferred to the Cuban purchaser.
Separately, despite earlier speculation to the contrary, it was announced today that Treasury Secretary John W. Snow will remain in his current position during the Bush Administration's second term.
|posted by Douglas N. Jacobson| Permalink 
