Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday laying the groundwork to slap tariffs on goods from countries that provide oil to Cuba, the White House said.
The order, which ratchets up Trump’s pressure to topple the communist government, declares a national emergency and establishes a process for the US secretaries of state and commerce to assess tariffs against countries that sell or otherwise provide oil to the island nation. The White House has yet to specify tariff rates for violating its new policy of blocking Cuba from buying oil.
A White House statement cited Cuba’s ties to hostile powers to explain the new tariff policy, citing the Cuban government’s alleged ties to Russia, Hamas and Hezbollah.
“These actions constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to US national security and foreign policy, requiring immediate response to protect American citizens and interests,” the White House said.
Cuba is an import-dependent Caribbean island nation of about 8 million inhabitants whose $85bn GDP is similar to that of Rhode Island. The Communist party of Cuba has ruled the country for six decades.
The Trump administration had pressured other countries to stop providing oil to Cuba in the lead-up to Thursday’s tariff announcement. Trump has tussled with Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum for weeks over the issue.
Sheinbaum has insisted that Mexico’s state oil company, Pemex, will continue to fill contractual obligations with Havana and may offer oil for humanitarian reasons.
“The humanitarian aid will continue, as it does to other countries,” Sheinbaum said at a press conference earlier this week. “Mexico has always shown solidarity with the entire world. They are sovereign decisions.”
Still, Sheinbaum acknowledged earlier this week that Mexican oil shipments had paused for the moment.
Mexico has been a major oil supplier for Cuba, providing 20,000 barrels a day through most of last year, according to NPR. That figure amounts to a little less than a third of the 70,000 daily barrels that Venezuela provided last year, according to the Miami Herald. Cuba reportedly resold much of its Venezuelan oil supply, however.
Cuba is facing major economic pressure since US forces arrested the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a surprise attack and whisked them to New York to face federal drug-trafficking charges. Under US pressure, Cuba lost access to Venezuelan oil, its principal supplier.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is the son of Cubans who emigrated from the island to Miami before the Cuban revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959 and a fierce opponent of the regime he founded.
Cuba had already rationed gasoline and imposed limited daily electricity blackouts as it struggled with limited oil supplies. The island only has 15 to 20 days’ worth of oil in inventory, according to a report from the Financial Times.
Tourist visits have plummeted in the face of the economic turmoil and Trump’s open efforts to topple the communist government.
“Cuba will be failing pretty soon,” Trump told reporters earlier this week, adding: “They got their money from Venezuela. They got the oil from Venezuela. They’re not getting that any more.”
