President Trump signs order threatening tariffs on nations supplying oil to Cuba

President Donald Trump declared a nationwide emergency by way of an government order on Cuba on Thursday, accusing the communist regime of aligning itself with hostile overseas powers and terrorist teams because it seeks to punish international locations that provide the island nation with oil.

Thursday executive order states that the Cuban authorities’s insurance policies and actions “pose an uncommon and extraordinary risk, originating wholly or considerably outdoors america, to the nationwide safety and overseas coverage of america.”

To counter that risk, Trump ordered the creation of a tariff mechanism that might enable the U.S. to impose extra duties on imports from overseas international locations that “immediately or not directly promote or in any other case provide oil to Cuba,” the order stated.

The White Home stated the transfer marks a big escalation of U.S. strain on the Cuban authorities aimed toward defending U.S. nationwide safety and overseas coverage pursuits.

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President Donald Trump signed an government order Thursday imposing tariffs on international locations that provide oil to the Cuban regime. (Al Drago/Reuters)

Within the order, Trump stated Cuba aligns with and helps “quite a few hostile international locations, transnational terrorist teams, and malign actors hostile to america,” naming Russia, China, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.

The administration stated Cuba hosts Russia’s largest abroad intelligence facility, which the order says seeks to steal delicate U.S. nationwide safety data. The order additionally states that Cuba will proceed to deepen intelligence and protection cooperation with China.

In response to the order, Cuba “welcomes transnational terrorist teams, reminiscent of Hezbollah and Hamas.”

Trump additionally cited the Cuban authorities’s human rights report, accusing the regime of persecuting and torturing political opponents, denying freedom of speech and the press, and retaliating towards households of political prisoners who protest peacefully.

“The USA has zero tolerance for the depredations of the communist Cuban regime,” Trump stated within the order, including that the administration will act to carry the regime accountable whereas supporting the Cuban individuals’s aspirations for a free and democratic society.

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Trump additionally cited the Cuban authorities’s human rights report and alleged retaliation towards households of political prisoners who protest peacefully. (Yamil Lage/AFP by way of Getty Photos)

Beneath the order, the Commerce Division will decide whether or not a overseas nation provides oil to Cuba, immediately or by way of intermediaries. The State Division, working with the Treasury Division, Homeland Safety, Commerce and the U.S. Commerce Consultant, will resolve whether or not and the way excessive the brand new tariffs needs to be, in that case.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is charged with monitoring the nationwide emergency and reporting to Congress, whereas the Commerce Division will proceed to watch which international locations provide oil to Cuba.

Cuban International Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, left, meets with Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov, June 12, 2024, in Moscow. (AP picture, file)

In a single fact sheetThe White Home stated the order is meant to guard U.S. nationwide safety and overseas coverage from the Cuban regime’s “malign actions and insurance policies,” describing the transfer as a part of Trump’s broader efforts to confront regimes that threaten U.S. pursuits.

The administration stated the transfer builds on Trump’s first-term Cuba coverage, which reversed Obama-era involvement and reintroduced more durable measures towards the communist authorities.

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The chief order takes impact Friday.

The White Home didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for extra remark.