Commerce Secretary Raimondo pushing to lift tough U.S. travel restrictions

[July 13, 2021]  By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Monday she is pressing for the easing of coronavirus restrictions that bar much of the world from traveling to the United States but that U.S. health officials remain concerned about more outbreaks.

Dozen of U.S. business groups, lawmakers and officials from foreign governments are urging President Joe Biden's administration to relax tough restrictions put in place under former President Donald Trump.

"We're working it," Raimondo told Reuters in an interview "I'm pushing really hard."

She said she met with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Friday but had no information on when a decision could be made.

"The CDC is nervous, and it's hard to know if people are vaccinated," she said. "There's no vaccine passport that's reliable, and that's kind of a big hurdle."

The White House says it is continuing discussions with the European Union, Britain, Canada and Mexico on how to eventually lift restrictions, but U.S. officials say they still have no timetable and travel industry officials think the restrictions may not be lifted until August or later.

The White House has repeatedly ruled out a national vaccine passport.

Flight information display screens are seen at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. June 12, 2021. REUTERS/Seth Herald/File Photo

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has joined Raimondo in pushing for lifting restrictions, according to sources familiar with the discussions, but others in the administration remain worried that opening the door to more travelers from abroad could lead to increases in COVID-19 infection rates.

A spokeswoman for Becerra had no immediate comment on the meeting with Raimondo.

Airlines and others are urging the administration to lift restrictions covering most non-U.S. citizens who have recently been in Britain, the 26 Schengen nations in Europe without border controls, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil.

The United States also bars non-essential travelers from crossing into the United States from the Canadian or Mexican land borders.

European diplomats and others argue that the list of countries with severe travel restrictions includes some with low infection rates, while others with high infection rates, including Argentina, face no restrictions.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Additional reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Heather Timmons and Peter Cooney)

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