EO 14380

Executive Order 14380 was signed by US President Donald Trump on 29 January 2026, declaring a national emergency concerning Cuba and authorising the imposition of secondary tariffs on any third country that supplies oil or petroleum products to Cuba. Three UN Special Rapporteurs condemned the order on 12 February 2026 as 'an extreme form of unilateral economic coercion with extraterritorial effects,' warning that restricting Cuba's fuel imports risks constituting collective punishment of civilians under international humanitarian law.

The order expanded on existing Cuban sanctions architecture by explicitly targeting third-country suppliers — effectively extending US jurisdiction beyond its own nationals and companies. Its immediate effect was to deter Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and potential Russian suppliers from completing contracted deliveries. The US Treasury subsequently issued a limited carve-out on 25 March 2026 permitting PDVSA to sell crude to Cuban private-sector buyers, but explicitly maintained the block on GAESA and the Cuban state.

EO 14380 is the most significant escalation in US-Cuba energy policy in decades and sits at the legal centre of an emerging dispute about the extraterritorial reach of US sanctions. The Cuban government has made it the centrepiece of its diplomatic complaints, and UN and EU bodies have raised concerns about its humanitarian impact. The Granma newspaper cut to weekly printing, citing EO 14380's effect on fuel supply chains.