U.S. adds four Cuban economic sectors to sanctions framework

The U.S. Treasury Department added electronics, manufacturing, marine and technology to the Cuban economic sectors whose foreign operators can face sanctions under Executive Order 14404, broadening a program first issued in May. The new determination took effect Nov. 5. [1][1]

The determination extends the program beyond five sectors identified in the executive order: energy, defense and related materiel, metals and mining, financial services, and security. It authorizes the Treasury or State Department to block foreign people or companies determined to operate or have operated in the sectors. [1][6][1][6]

OFAC said the sector designation creates sanctions risk for foreign operators; it does not automatically sanction every person or company in the affected industries. A foreign person becomes subject to blocking sanctions under this criterion when the government determines that the person operated in an identified sector. The Cuba program is separate from the older Cuban Assets Control Regulations, whose existing prohibitions and authorizations remain in effect. [4][6][4][6]

On the same day, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control updated its Specially Designated Nationals list with eight companies and two individuals included in the Cuba action and named five vessels as blocked property, Spain’s EFE news agency reported. The list includes Cuban state-owned companies Cubaelectrónica, Tecnosime, Internacional Marítima and Petromarca; the Chinese firms CEIEC and Beijing H&C Technologies; and shipping companies Caroil Transport Marine and Tentacool Commercial. [2][3][2][3]

The vessels named by EFE were the Esperanza, María Cristina, Gloria C, Emilia and Lourdes. OFAC’s records add the Emilia and Gloria C to the list and amend existing records for the other three to include Cuba-related sanctions. The agency also added two Cuban nationals, Guillermo Rodríguez López-Calleja and Any Rodríguez Lastres. [2][3][2][3]

The State Department said the package targeted a crude-oil shipping network, Cuban state entities and foreign suppliers. The Associated Press reported that Washington accused CEIEC and Beijing H&C of procuring weapons and supplying surveillance and security equipment to the Cuban government. Those are U.S. allegations; the reporting reviewed for this article did not include a response from the companies. [5][5]

Reuters reported that the sector determination accompanied new Cuba-related sanctions on people and entities, while EFE detailed the maritime designations and said the listed vessels were linked by Washington to oil transport to or from Cuba. The actions put the administration’s broader pressure campaign on the island’s international commercial links as well as Cuban state entities. [3][7][3][7]

The measures come as Cuba faces a deepening energy crisis. The AP reported that daily power outages were exceeding 24 hours as the aging grid failed and fuel reserves dwindled; it also reported that the administration’s January threat of tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba had made islandwide blackouts more common. The reporting describes conditions before the Nov. 5 determination and does not measure its effects. [5][5]

Cuban officials criticized an earlier round of U.S. sanctions in August. Granma reported that President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the listed people and institutions were being penalized for serving Cuba; Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said the restrictions were intended to impede the government’s provision of basic services. Those comments addressed the August measures, not the Nov. 5 action. [8][8]

The administration’s May executive order says sanctions are intended to address what it calls threats from the Cuban government and human-rights abuses. OFAC says the order created a program separate from longstanding Cuba trade and travel regulations, and that activities licensed or exempt under those regulations remain authorized under the order’s general license. [6][6]