Donald Trump threatens tariffs on any country selling oil to Cuba
Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on any country supplying oil to Cuba.
The president signed an executive order on Thursday that ‘declared a national emergency and established a process to impose tariffs on goods from countries that sell or otherwise provide oil to Cuba.’
Mexico is Cuba’s number one supplier, providing approximately 44 percent of the island’s crude oil by 2025.
Although the executive order did not specify any tariff rates or name any countries, Trump was urging Mexico to cut ties with the Communist-run island.
Venezuela and Russia have historically provided oil to Cuba but are currently subject to extensive sanctions and tariffs.
Trump repeatedly talked about taking action against Cuba after the US military captured ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month. This week he stated that ‘Cuba will fail very soon’ after Venezuela recently stopped supporting the country with money and oil.
Trump said he had a “productive” meeting with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday.
Trump and Sheinbaum spoke about trade and security on Thursday. It was unclear whether the tariff threat was discussed.
President Donald Trump speaks at an event on addiction recovery in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday
The president signed an executive order on Thursday that “declares a national emergency and establishes a process to impose tariffs on goods from countries that sell or otherwise provide oil to Cuba.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke with President Trump on Thursday. Mexico is Cuba’s top supplier, providing about 44 percent of the island’s crude oil by 2025. It’s unclear whether the threat of tariffs was discussed.
Trump praised Sheinbaum as Mexico’s ‘wonderful and extremely intelligent leader’ in a post on Truth Social. He said the meeting went well.
While the presidents did not elaborate on what they discussed regarding security, Sheinbaum said they both agreed that things were going “very well.”
Sheinbaum said two issues were not discussed in the meeting: Cuba and critical minerals. He emphasized that both governments are addressing the issues.
Oil shipments from Mexico came under scrutiny after Trump vowed to stop Cuba from buying oil and money from Venezuela.
Mexico’s state oil company Pemex said 20,000 barrels of oil were shipped to Cuba every day from January to Sept. 30, 2025, according to the company’s latest report cited by The Associated Press.
Jorge Piñon, an expert at the University of Texas Energy Institute who tracks shipments using satellite technology, said shipments dropped to 7,000 barrels after the visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
This week, Sheinbaum declared that decisions about supplying oil to Cuba were a matter of sovereignty and appeared to acknowledge that Mexico had halted some planned shipments to the island.
However, he noted that Mexico will continue to provide humanitarian aid to Cuba through oil.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel this month said the United States did not have the moral authority to impose a deal on his country after Trump said the island needed to reach a deal with the United States
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel this month said the United States had no moral authority to force his country into a deal after Trump said the island should reach a deal with the United States.
The U.S. and Mexican governments are preparing for high-stakes negotiations on a trilateral trade agreement with Canada later this year.
“There’s nothing concrete, but it’s going very well,” Sheinbaum said of the trade deal at a morning press conference. He noted progress has been made in the Trump administration’s demand that Mexico address what Washington calls “non-tariff barriers” to trade.
Under the tripartite trade deal negotiated during Trump’s first term, the United States, Mexico and Canada are required to jointly review the trade deal by July 1, its sixth anniversary, to confirm their intent to renew or amend the trade deal for 16 years.
The USMCA agreement forms the backbone of Mexico’s economy and replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020. The deal shielded Mexico from most of Trump’s tariffs.
However, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the deal had ‘shortcomings’ and was not equipped to deal with increases in exports and investment from non-market economies such as China to the region.
Trump said this month that the USMCA was ‘irrelevant’ to the United States despite a highly integrated North American economy.
