Donald Trump has threatened tariffs on any country providing oil to Cuba.
The President on Thursday 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.’
Mexico is Cuba’s number one supplier, providing roughly 44 percent of the island’s crude in 2025.
While the executive order did not specify any tariff rates or single out any countries, Trump has been urging Mexico to cut ties with the Communist-run island.
Venezuela and Russia have historically supplied oil to Cuba, but are already subject to extensive sanctions and tariffs.
Following the US military’s seizure of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month, Trump has repeatedly spoken about taking action against Cuba. This week, he noted that ‘Cuba will be failing pretty soon,’ after Venezuela recently stopped supporting the country with money and oil.
Trump said he had a ‘productive’ call on Thursday with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Trump and Sheinbaum spoke on Thursday about trade and security. It was unclear if the tariff threat was discussed.
Trump, in a Truth Social post, praised Sheinbaum as Mexico’s ‘wonderful and highly intelligent leader.’ He said the conversation went well.
While the presidents did not go into detail about what they discussed regarding security, Sheinbaum said both agreed things are going ‘very well.’
Sheinbaum said that two topics were not discussed on the call: Cuba and critical minerals. She stressed that the two governments are addressing the issues.
The oil shipments from Mexico have been scrutinized after Trump vowed to stop Cuba from receiving oil and money from Venezuela.
Pemex, Mexico’s state oil company, said that 20,000 barrels of oil where being shipped everyday to Cuba from January to September 30 2025, according to the company’s most recent report as cited by the Associated Press.
Following a visit from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Jorge Piñon, an expert at the University of Texas Energy Institute who tracks shipments using satellite technology, said the shipments dropped to 7,000 barrels.
This week, Sheinbaum described decisions about supplying Cuba with oil as a sovereign matter and appeared to acknowledge that Mexico had stopped some planned shipments to the island.
She said the temporary pause was part of fluctuating oil supplies but still noted that Mexico would continue to provide humanitarian aid to Cuba in the form of oil.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said this month the US had no moral authority to force a deal on his country after Trump suggested the island should come to an agreement with the US.
The US and Mexican government are preparing for negotiations later this year on their trilateral trade deal with Canada.
‘There is nothing concrete, but it is coming along very well,’ Sheinbaum said about the trade deal in her morning press conference. She noted progress on the Trump administration’s demand that Mexico address what Washington calls ‘non-tariff barriers’ to trade.
Under the trilateral trade deal, negotiated during Trump’s first term, the US, Mexico, and Canada must launch a joint review of the trade pact by July 1, its sixth anniversary, to confirm their intention to either renew it for 16 years or make modifications.
The USMCA deal is the backbone of Mexico’s economy, and it replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020. The agreement has protected Mexico from most of Trump’s tariffs.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, however, has said the deal has ‘shortcomings’ and is address surges in exports and investment from non-market economies into the region.
Trump this month said the USMCA was ‘irrelevant’ for the US despite a highly integrated North American economy.
