U.S. Opens Cuba Sanctions to Electronics, Manufacturing and Tech

The Treasury Department on Thursday published a determination under Executive Order 14404 that applies U.S. sanctions authority to foreign persons operating in Cuba’s electronics, manufacturing, marine and technology sectors, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Nov. 5 recent-actions notice. The Associated Press reported the same day that the move escalates the Trump administration’s economic campaign against Havana and that the State Department ordered penalties on China-based suppliers of Cuba’s military forces.

OFAC said the determination was issued under section 2(a)(i)(A) of E.O. 14404, titled “Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba and for Threats to United States National Security and Foreign Policy.” The notice said any foreign person determined to operate or have operated in those four sectors is subject to sanctions under that provision. The determination took effect Nov. 5, the agency’s listing shows.

Targets on the SDN list

In the same Nov. 5 update, OFAC added Cuban state companies Empresa Importadora y Exportadora de Productos de la Electronica y las Comunicaciones, also known as Cubaelectronica, and Empresa Comercializadora de Servicios Tecnicos y Tecnologicos, also known as Tecnosime, to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list under the Cuba executive order. Beijing H and C Technologies Co., Ltd., a China-based electronics wholesaler, was also listed under the same authority.

OFAC additionally updated China National Electronic Import-Export Company, also known as CEIEC, so the firm is now designated under both prior Venezuela-related authorities and the Cuba order. The notice listed Guillermo Faustino Rodriguez Lopez Calleja of Havana among newly designated individuals and named Cuban shipping-linked entities Internacional Maritima SA and Petroleos Maritimos del Caribe S.A., along with vessels including the LPG tanker Emilia and the chemical tanker Gloria C.

Rubio’s statement

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement carried by the Associated Press that “the identification of these new sectors targets the regime and those who enable it, not the Cuban people,” and that humanitarian aid remains authorized to enter Cuba. The AP said the State Department’s actions also targeted China-based suppliers tied to Cuba’s military.

Sources: U.S. Treasury OFAC, Associated Press via WTOP