Cuba Trade Plummets as Trump Administration Intensifies Economic Pressure

Commercial activity between the United States and Cuba has dramatically decreased following the Trump administration's escalation of economic pressure tactics. The island nation is experiencing severe shortages of fuel and essential goods, affecting the daily lives of Cuba's 11 million citizens.

MIAMI (AP) — For more than sixty years, Cuba’s Communist Party has demonstrated remarkable staying power through numerous challenges.

From America’s economic embargo following Fidel Castro’s rise to power in 1959, to the devastating hunger during the “special period” after the Soviet Union’s collapse, the island’s government has weathered both external pressure and internal disasters.

However, the current crisis may represent the most serious challenge yet, as the Trump administration implements what amounts to an unofficial naval blockade aimed at forcing governmental change following the recent removal of Cuba’s long-standing ally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

While engaged in conflict with Iran, President Donald Trump stated this week that he expects to have “the honor of taking Cuba” in the near future. Though his exact intentions remain unclear, the United States is seeking President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s departure through ongoing negotiations with Havana that might prevent potential American military action.

Without formally announcing a blockade, Trump’s administration has severely damaged commercial relations with the Caribbean nation.

During March, deliveries of petroleum, food, and other essential items to Cuba virtually stopped, with no international tankers reaching the island, according to maritime data reviewed by Windward, a shipping intelligence company. Port visits, including vessels moving between Cuban harbors, typically averaged 50 monthly throughout 2025 but dropped to merely 11 in March — all from domestic origins. This marked the lowest figure since 2017. Furthermore, prospects for improvement appear dim: no tankers are currently en route, and only three cargo vessels — from China, India, and the Netherlands — have listed Cuba as their planned destination, though these plans could shift.

This economic stranglehold is severely impacting Cuba’s 11 million people, who face extensive power outages and deteriorating healthcare services due to insufficient fuel for ambulances and hospital backup power systems. The nation, among the world’s most petroleum-dependent for electricity generation, produces less than 40% of its required energy needs domestically.

Ian Ralby, director of I.R. Consilium, a maritime security consulting firm based in the United States, argued that America’s aggressive approach will not win favor among Cubans who have long desired political change.

“Every Cuban resident is suffering the acute inaccessibility to fuel and all the knock-on consequences in terms of access to food, hospitals and free movement,” he said.

This dramatic reduction in commerce has occurred without the White House reinstating export limitations to Cuba that were previously relaxed under the Biden presidency. Actually, shipments of American-produced chicken, pork, and other food products to Cuba — representing most U.S. exports to the island — reached $490 million last year, the highest level since 2009. Non-farming exports and charitable contributions, largely benefiting Cuba’s growing private economy, more than doubled.

However, encouraged by America’s capture of Maduro, Trump has progressively intensified his statements regarding Cuba, initially proposing a “friendly takeover” of the nation and recently telling conservative Latin American partners that he would “take care” of Cuba after concluding the Iranian conflict.

Though neither Trump nor his administration has explained precisely what this commitment entails, the ongoing presence of U.S. naval vessels in the Caribbean used during the Maduro operation has prompted companies and nations conducting business with Cuba to exercise self-restraint.

“Nobody wants to be on the radar of Trump’s Truth Social account,” said John Kavulich, president of the New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.

Leading up to the American military’s removal of Maduro during a nighttime operation on January 3, Trump announced that the U.S. would prevent all Venezuelan petroleum deliveries to Cuba and actually captured several tankers to enforce what it termed a “quarantine,” using language from President John F. Kennedy’s response during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Later that month, Trump issued an executive directive threatening tariffs against any nation providing oil to Cuba. This warning concerned Mexican officials, who have historically opposed American policy toward Cuba and whose government-owned petroleum company Pemex became an important supply source last year as Venezuelan oil exports decreased.

Cuba has increased its criticism of what it describes as a “fuel blockade” by America. However, the Trump administration has rejected this characterization, likely recognizing that under international law, any naval action viewed as punishing civilians constitutes an illegal act of aggression outside wartime.

“Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign state — nobody dictates what we do,” Díaz-Canel said in a social media post in January. “Cuba does not attack; we are the victims of U.S. attacks for 66 years and we will prepare ourselves to defend the homeland with our last drop of blood.”

Facing growing criticism that American actions are causing starvation in Cuba, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has begun moderating some of the administration’s warnings. In January, the State Department delivered $3 million worth of food packages, water purification supplies, and other humanitarian aid to the island. Then last month, the White House announced it would permit American companies to deliver fuel — including Venezuelan petroleum — to private Cuban enterprises.

According to Rubio, the objective is to support the growth of the country’s small private business sector.

“The reason why those industries have not flourished in Cuba is because the regime has not allowed them to flourish,” Rubio said when announcing the private sales.

However, it remains uncertain whether any companies have begun fuel deliveries, and critics argue the approach is impractical since most Cuban businesses lack funding and the Cuban government controls gasoline distribution.

John Felder, owner of Premier Automotive Export, a Maryland-based company that has sold electric vehicles and scooters to Cuba since 2012, said most Cubans, despite their current suffering, worry about future developments.

“U.S. policies have created the most resilient people in the world and yet all they want to do is buy things in Miami like you and me,” said Felder, who recently returned from a four-day business visit to Havana and reports never witnessing worse conditions. “They want change but they don’t want to be controlled by the United States.”