Decision Disallows Certain Tariffs That Force Other Countries to Join Embargo and Strangle Cuban Economy

Washington, DC — “The Supreme Court decision released today dealt a blow to President Trump’s use of tariffs as a weapon of economic warfare,” said Mark Weisbrot, Senior Economist and Co-Director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). “Most immediately, it will disallow the current use of tariffs in coercing other countries to withhold shipments of oil to Cuba.”

Imported oil is essential to Cuba’s economy and public health. More than 80 percent of Cuba’s electricity is generated from oil. Oil shipments to Cuba have fallen to zero since President Trump issued an executive order on January 29 authorizing him to impose punitive tariffs on any country that would send oil to Cuba.

“Like US economic sanctions generally, the current oil blockade targets the civilian population, and especially public health,” said Alex Main, Director of International Policy at CEPR. “The cuts in electricity hit hospitals and health services; loss of fuel makes it more difficult to distribute food and medicine, driving shortages that raise prices. Electricity is needed to pump drinkable water and to maintain sanitation.”

A study in July in The Lancet Global Health that Weisbrot coauthored with CEPR economists Francisco Rodríguez and Silvio Rendón estimated that unilateral sanctions, mostly from the United States, increased deaths worldwide by about 564,000 per year. This is comparable to the deaths from armed conflict. 

Currently, the most urgently lethal part of the US embargo on Cuba is the cutoff of oil. This is maintained through the January 29 executive order. While numerous governments are providing humanitarian aid to Cuba to help them through this emergency, they have not provided oil for fear of being punished with US tariffs. But now, according to the US Supreme Court, the US will not be able to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as a legal avenue to impose these tariffs. 

At a press conference today, Trump pledged to “impose a 10 per cent global tariff … over and above our normal tariffs already being charged.” 

Cuba has been a target of US economic sanctions for more than 60 years, and currently has other harmful sanctions in place. And the US could still use military force to block oil deliveries. The New York Times reported that the US had intercepted a tanker attempting to deliver fuel to Cuba last week as part of an undeclared blockade of the island. 

“But there is a big difference between using tariffs to punish other countries — which in this case is also illegal under both international treaties as well as US domestic law — and using military force to block countries from shipping oil to Cuba,” said Weisbrot. 

“This would really constitute acts of war,” he said. “It’s not clear that the rest of the world, or even some parts of the US security state, would go along with this.”

Weisbrot noted that on December 12, Admiral Alvin Holsey, the Commander of SOUTHCOM, retired from his position, with two more years left in his term. According to press reports including CNN, “SOUTHCOM was concerned about the operations [against the alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean] not being lawful.”

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