The question then becomes why are we doing the right thing as far as trading with Cuba is concerned, and the wrong thing when it comes to trading with China?
In either case, it isn't so much the "opening the market for American products" mantra that's repeated so often, but the truth rather is the fact that what we're really looking for is cheap manufacturing for our consumer goods.
A.K.A. slave labor.
One more thing that's a bunch of bunk is that if the purpose of the embargo is to affect change in Cuba, then it has failed because Fidel is still in control.
A couple of things about that:
1) The embargo was put into place largely because Castro STOLE close to two billion dollars, in 1960 dollars, in property from US companies.
2) Because of the effectiveness of the embargo, the Cuban peso is no longer the tender in Cuba, you need dollars to buy things there. Because of the embargo, Fidel's ability to export his revolution has been limited. Because of the embargo, the USSR had to subsidize Cuba, helping in bankrupting them. Because of the embargo, Fidel does not owe us billions of dollars in unpaid bills, like he owes everyone else, and because of that, he isn't defaulting on payment to us like he does everyone else, and because of that, the US taxpayer isn't supporting the totalitarian regime in Cuba.
"If free trade is considered to be the way to bring about change..."
How do you conduct free trade with a nation that outlaws private ownership of any sort of business?
Just because they call it free trade it doesn't make it that.