While signalling a dramatic shift in the US-Cuba relationship, the President’s authority to lift sanctions is limited in several key respects.

On December 17, 2014, President Obama announced that the United States will restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba — which were severed in 1961 — and in his words, end “an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests.” This diplomatic shift will include potentially re-establishing a US embassy in Havana in the coming months. Below are the key takeaways from the President’s announcement.

1. Timing -

The changes announced on December 17 will take effect only when the Departments of the Treasury and Commerce issue revised regulations: the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) maintains the Export Administration Regulations. OFAC announced that it intends to issue regulatory amendments “in the coming weeks.”