It went from tenth to first place among the island’s trading partners, leaving behind Spain and China, which previously topped the list
14ymedio, Havana, September 26, 2026 / In just three years, the United States has gone from occupying a secondary place in trade with Cuba to becoming its largest supplier, ahead of Spain and China, at the same time as the Trump Administration is tightening sanctions against Havana. In 2023, the US ranked only tenth among the island’s trading partners.
Between January and July 2026, US exports to Cuba reached $674 million, above those recorded by Spain and China over the same period. The comparison confirms the turnaround: the US, which just three years ago ranked tenth among the island’s trading partners, now heads the list, although it only sells to the island and buys almost nothing from it.
On another level, the volume accumulated by the United States in just seven months is already approaching the total of Spain’s exports to Cuba for the whole of 2025 (682.4 million euros) and the $684.2 million that China had shipped between January and August of that same year.
In the first seven months of the year, the US had already exported the equivalent of 83.2% of everything recorded in 2025
The US surge has been dizzying. In July alone, exports reached $148.9 million, the highest monthly figure since the U.S. Census Bureau began tracking them in 1992. In the first seven months of the year, the US had already exported the equivalent of 83.2% of everything recorded in 2025.
Between 2021 and 2025, US exports to Cuba grew by 148%, from about $327 million to more than $809 million.
The growing exchange is also visible in the ports. Some 45 cargo ships have made more than 200 trips from the United States to Cuba this year. By the end of August they had transported nearly 327,000 tons of goods from Miami, Houston, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Wilmington and other US ports.
The shipments include food, automobiles, motorcycles, solar power systems and petroleum products, which have gained weight amid Cuba’s severe energy crisis. In June, the US sent Cuba 778,000 barrels of fuel, 63.4% more than in May and the largest monthly volume recorded up to then in 2026.
While the United States exported $674 million to Cuba through July, it imported barely half a million dollars’ worth of goods from the island (exactly $515,550) over the same period
During the first half of the year, shipments totaled 1.67 million barrels. Washington authorizes these exports of fuel when they are destined for the Cuban private sector, although 14ymedio has documented numerous illegal sales to the state apparatus.
Between January and September 2025 alone, the island imported $355 million in agricultural products from the US, 15% more than in the same period of the previous year. Among the purchases that grew the most were pork, sugar, coffee, grains and animal feed.
Trade, moreover, flows in only one direction. While the United States exported $674 million to Cuba through July, it imported barely half a million dollars’ worth of goods from the island (exactly $515,550) over the same period. Of the total, $459,543 corresponded to works of art, collectors’ pieces and antiques (90%); $52,319 to machinery and mechanical appliances, and $3,688 to plastics and plastic products, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Bloomberg noted that, as a result of the restrictions imposed by Washington on the large European shipping companies, some exports from third countries must pass through US ports.
Translated by GH.
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