Politics Trump threatens tariffs against Cuba's oil suppliers
US President Donald Trump is threatening Cuba's oil suppliers with additional tariffs in order to weaken the Caribbean state's energy supply.
30.01.2026, 03:45
30.01.2026, 09:05
SDA
The additional tariffs are to be imposed from today, Friday, on goods imported into the United States from countries from which Cuba obtains its oil. This is according to an executive order issued by Trump and published by the White House. The foreign minister of the socialist-ruled island state, Bruno Rodríguez, strongly condemned this "new escalation by the USA against Cuba" in a post on the X platform.
To justify this, the US is relying on "a long list of lies designed to portray Cuba as a threat that it is not", Rodríguez continued. "The only malign influence is that which the US government exerts on the nations and peoples of our America in an attempt to subjugate them to its dictates", the post continued, among other things.
The threatened additional tariffs relate to products from countries that sell crude oil or petroleum products to Cuba directly or via third countries and intermediaries. The level of the additional tariffs - which have not yet been imposed - was not specified in the decree. And Trump has yet to decide which countries the USA will specifically target.
Additional tariffs could cause Cuba's economy to collapse
Relations between Havana and Washington, which have been strained for decades, have deteriorated significantly since Trump took office a year ago. Trump accuses the communist government of the Caribbean island of harming the USA - and could effectively cause the already ailing Cuban economy to collapse completely by stopping oil supplies from abroad.
The US President recently spoke of Cuba being on the verge of collapse. Following the US attack on Venezuela - an important ally of Havana - and the capture of Venezuelan head of state Nicolás Maduro, Cuba is no longer receiving any oil or money from there. In addition, the US has taken control of several oil tankers in the region in recent weeks.
The authoritarian-ruled Caribbean island is currently experiencing one of its worst economic crises since the revolution under Fidel Castro in 1959. There is a lack of fuel and many everyday goods, and many Cubans are suffering from poverty. According to media reports, Mexico is now also said to have reduced oil supplies to Cuba under pressure from the USA, although there is no confirmation of this from Mexico.
Trump wants to decide on additional tariffs himself
Several US ministries, including the Department of Finance and the Department of Commerce, are now to draw up proposals for specific tariffs. In the end, Trump wants to decide on the amount and the countries affected himself. As a precaution, the US President has already warned both Cuba and other countries of retaliatory measures - if countermeasures are taken, he will amend the regulation and presumably tighten it.
