Trump Signs Executive Order Authorizing Tariffs on Countries Selling Oil to Cuba; Cuba and Venezuela Respond

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing him to impose tariffs on imports from countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba. According to Trump, the situation in Cuba “constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the security and foreign policy of Washington, and he has therefore declared a “national emergency.”

Based on these unfounded accusations, Trump has established a tariff system. According to this system, “an additional ad valorem duty may be imposed on imports of goods that are products of a foreign country that directly or indirectly sells or otherwise provides any oil to Cuba.”

The measure will take effect at midnight on January 30. The document states that the order may be modified if new information emerges, recommendations from senior officials arise, or circumstances change. It also outlines actions to be taken should a foreign country retaliate against the United States in response to this aggression, in order to maintain effectiveness.

The blockade against #Cuba that some people say it is a fiction, now would implemented through blackmail on third countries. Voila.https://t.co/THXI0mkUmT

— Dr C José Ramón Cabañas Rodriguez (@JoseRCabanas) January 30, 2026

The order also indicates that if the government of Cuba or another affected country adopts significant measures and “aligns itself” with Washington on national security and foreign policy matters, the order could also be modified.

The US ruler argued that the Cuban government has adopted extraordinary measures that harm and threaten the United States, aligning itself with and providing support to countries considered hostile, as well as to “transnational terrorist groups,  and other malign actors opposed” to Washington.

It accuses the Cuban government, without providing evidence, of having long provided “defense, intelligence, and security assistance to adversaries” of the United States in the Western Hemisphere, evading US and international sanctions, and trying to hinder Washington’s efforts to deal with malicious actors in the region.

For over six decades, Cuba has been subjected to a criminal US blockade and illegal sanctions in a multifaceted, unsuccessful regime-change operation. The most recent US sanctions launched during Trump’s first term, which were recently strengthened, have brought pain and despair upon many defenseless Cubans.

Cuba’s condemnation
On Thursday night, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez harshly criticized the new measures taken by the US against Cuba. “We condemn in the strongest terms the new escalation by the US against Cuba,” the minister wrote.

He explained that a total blockade of fuel supplies to Cuba is currently being proposed. “To justify this, they rely on a long list of lies that attempt to portray Cuba as a threat it is not,” he added.

“Every day, there is new evidence that the only threat to the peace, security, and stability of the region, and the only malignant influence, is that exerted by the US government against the nations and peoples of Our America, whom it tries to subject to its dictates, deprive of their resources, mutilate their sovereignty, and deprive of their independence,” Rodríguez added.

According to the Cuban foreign minister, Washington “also resorts to blackmail and coercion to get other countries to join its universally condemned blockade policy against Cuba, threatening them with the imposition of arbitrary and abusive tariffs if they refuse, in violation of the rules of free trade.”

“We condemn before the world this brutal act of aggression against Cuba and its people, who, for over 65 years, have been subjected to the longest and cruelest economic blockade ever applied against an entire nation, and who are now promised to be subjected to extreme living conditions,” he summarized.

Venezuela’s condemnation
Venezuela strongly condemned the new US executive order against Cuba. A statement released by Foreign Minister Yván Gil noted that these actions flagrantly violate international law and the principles of global trade.

Likewise, it denounced any measure aimed at conditioning the exchange of goods and services as a violation of sovereignty. The communique adds that free trade is a fundamental pillar of international economic relations, and should not be subject to coercion that impedes the development of sovereign peoples.

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The following is the full unofficial translation of the Venezuelan statement:

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela condemns the executive order issued by the government of the United States of America. The order seeks to impose punitive measures on countries that decide to maintain legitimate trade relations with the Republic of Cuba.

Any measure that limits or conditions the exchange of goods and services, as well as the freedom of states to sovereignly choose their trading partners, constitutes a violation of international law and the fundamental principles governing global trade. Free trade is a core principle of international economic relations between sovereign states. It cannot be subject to any form of coercion that impedes the free exchange of goods and services.

Venezuela expresses its solidarity with the people of Cuba and calls for collective action from the international community to address the humanitarian consequences of aggression of this nature. To consider Cuba a threat to the national security of the United States of America is absurd and poses a serious threat to its very existence as a nation.

Caracas, Jan. 30, 2026

 

(Alba Ciudad) with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SF