U.S. Exports to Cuba Surge 61% as Island Grows More Dependent on Washington

U.S. exports to Cuba have risen 61% this year to nearly $700 million, according to figures cited by El País, as Washington‘s pressure campaign cuts the island off from traditional suppliers while increasing its reliance on American fuel, food and consumer goods.

Economist Ricardo Torres, a former researcher at Cuba’s Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy and now a professor at American University, estimated U.S. exports at just over $416.5 million last year. This year, shipments include $126.6 million in relief items, $118 million in frozen chicken, $117.1 million in petroleum products and $34.9 million in vehicles.

The shift is particularly visible in energy. After Washington tightened restrictions on Cuba’s oil supplies and Venezuelan shipments stopped, Cuba’s emerging private sector increasingly turned to the United States. Economists cited by El País estimate that 799,704 barrels of diesel and 127,698 barrels of gasoline entered Cuba from the U.S. between January and June.

“Some measures are being taken that are creating new dependencies,” Torres told El País, pointing particularly to fuel. Private businesses are also assuming roles traditionally associated with the Cuban state, including supplying pharmacies and importing and distributing food and diesel.

That dependence is growing as Washington further restricts the same private sector. New Treasury Department rules that took effect Wednesday bar U.S. banks from maintaining accounts for Cuban independent entrepreneurs, restrict certain transactions involving Cuba and tighten travel rules.

Oniel Castellanos, founder of Cuban business consultancy Auge, said the banking restrictions create additional obstacles for entrepreneurs and could complicate international payments used to import food, fuel and other goods. The United States, he noted, has become the primary market for Cuba’s private sector.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused Washington of trying to inflict “maximum suffering” and argued that the restrictions show U.S. policy is not directed solely at state entities. The Trump administration says the measures are intended to close sanctions-evasion loopholes and restrict resources reaching Cuba’s government and military.

The measures are part of a broader pressure campaign that intensified after Venezuelan oil shipments stopped in January. President Donald Trump said Wednesday to “watch what” Secretary of State Marco Rubio does with Cuba, while Rubio has argued that political and economic changes must occur on the island.