Trump Signs Executive Order: Punitive Measures Against Any Country “that directly or indirectly provides oil” to Cuba

ByJay Watts

The same day after a 40 minute phone call between himself and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, US President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order declaring a national emergency “and establishing a process to impose tariffs on goods from countries that sell or otherwise provide oil to Cuba, protecting U.S. national security and foreign policy from the Cuban regime’s malign actions and policies.”

  • The Order imposes a new tariff system that allows the United States to impose additional tariffs on imports from any country that directly or indirectly provides oil to Cuba.
  • The Order authorizes the Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce to take all necessary actions, including issuing rules and guidance, to implement the tariff system and related measures.
  • The President may modify the Order if Cuba or affected countries take significant steps to address the threat or align with U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives.

This week, a Bloomberg report said that a scheduled PEMEX shipment of oil to Cuba from Mexico was cancelled, leading to multiple questions for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during her morning press conferences. President Sheinbaum specified that there were two paths for oil to arrive in Cuba from Mexico: via PEMEX, and as humanitarian aid, and said that humanitarian aid to Cuba, which could include oil, was not cancelled but would not specify when the next shipment would be sent. A reporter asked, “Will the shipment of oil as humanitarian aid continue?,” and the President responded, “We have to determine that based on the request.”

Mexicans pay homage on the 173rd Anniversary of the birth of José Martí in Guadalupe, Zacatecas.

The peoples of Mexico and Cuba share a long revolutionary bond, from the post-revolutionary period in Mexico when Cuban communist and revolutionary Julio Antonio Mella was assassinated in Mexico City by Cuban dictator Gerardo Machado; to the Granma expedition of 1956, which departed from Veracruz for Cuba with Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro, Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos, and 78 others onboard; including President Sheinbaum’s own grandfather and uncle, Chone and Solomon Sheinbaum, who were members of the Communist Party of Cuba in the 1920s, before being deported to Mexico; and to the many solidarity events which have taken place this week across Mexico, in honour of José Martí’s birthday.