The State Department has announced that Cuba is no longer officially a State Sponsor of Terrorism (“SST”) after the mandatory 45-day congressional approval period. This outcome was never really in doubt as the SST designation under § 6(j) of the Export Administration Act and other provisions in § 620(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act don’t actually contain a legal mechanism for Congress to block a presidential removal decision. While the Arms Control Export Act does give Congress the ability to block a removal, its doubtful opponents would have been able to muster the votes to issue the joint resolution required.

The fact remains that removing the SST designation is an almost entirely symbolic move. The EAA restrictions are entirely covered by the Trading With the Enemy Act (“TWEA”) embargo that remains very much in effect and will remain in effect for the foreseeable future. Exporting arms or providing significant foreign assistance to Cuba is almost certainly a political nonstarter even for supporters of the administration’s recent moves to relax certain aspects of the embargo.

It should be noted that although Cuba is no longer an official SST, the State Department announcement did contain a reminder that there’s still much work to do.

While the U.S. has significant concerns and disagreements with a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions, these fall outside the criteria relevant to the rescission of a state sponsor of terrorism designation.”