Mexican exports to Cuba fell 97.1% in twelve months, from 127.3 million dollars in June 2025 to only 3.6 million in June 2026, according to data from the Bank of Mexico.
In absolute terms, more than 123 million dollars in sales disappeared in just one year.
The collapse is even more striking because it occurs right after an unprecedented boom.
With the arrival of Claudia Sheinbaum to the presidency, monthly exports to Cuba jumped from about 14 million dollars in June 2024 to 127.3 million in June 2025, an approximate increase of 799% within twelve months.
However, by June 2026, the flow had fallen even below the levels prior to the uptick.
Oil, the engine of boom and collapse
Behind both the spike of 2025 and the collapse of 2026 lies a single sector: mineral products, which include petroleum derivatives.
In June 2025, Mexico exported to Cuba approximately 113 million dollars in this category, accounting for nearly 89% of the total exported that month.
A year later, that amount was reduced to just 76 thousand dollars, a decrease of 99.9%.
The breaking point was the halt by Pemex on crude oil shipments in January 2026, just days before Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14380, which threatened tariffs and secondary sanctions against countries supplying oil to the island.
In the first quarter of 2026, Pemex reported just 900 barrels per day sent to Cuba, compared to the average of 17,200 barrels per day in 2025.
Although Trump removed the additional tariffs in February 2026, crude oil shipments did not resume.
In 2025, the total value of Mexican exports to Cuba reached 758 million dollars, of which about 609 million were for fuels.
Widespread decline across all sectors
The collapse was not limited to the energy sector.
Almost all categories recorded severe declines between June 2025 and June 2026:
- Food and beverages: fell by 97.4%, from 3 million dollars to 84 thousand dollars.
- Animal and vegetable fats and oils: decreased by 98.3%, from 2 million to 46 thousand dollars.
- Common metals and their manufacturing: fell by 99%, from 1.5 million to 23 thousand dollars.
- Transport material: fell by 94%, from 632 thousand to 38 thousand dollars.
- Electrical machines, apparatus, and materials: fell by 71%, from 1 million to 382 thousand dollars.
- Products from the plant kingdom: those that fared best, with a drop of 29.2%, from 1 million to 847 thousand dollars.
In June 2026, the main product exported by Mexico to Cuba was animal or plant-based fertilizers (819 thousand dollars), and the states with the highest export activity were Nuevo León (1.06 million), Mexico City (979,000), and Yucatán (180,000).
Expanded sanctions and energy crisis in Cuba
U.S. pressure did not stop in January. On May 1, 2026, Trump signed Executive Order 14404, which expanded secondary sanctions against entities linked to the Cuban regime, including the energy sector.
In June, the State Department sanctioned CUPET, the island's state-owned oil company.
The impact on Cuba has been devastating. The suspension of oil shipments from Mexico has exacerbated an energy crisis of historic proportions.
Mexico maintains humanitarian aid but rules out resuming oil activities
Despite the commercial collapse, Sheinbaum has maintained a policy of humanitarian assistance.
Since February 2026, Mexico has sent more than 4,800 tons of food, medicine, and solar panels.
At the end of July, the president announced a new shipment of aid for the island, but ruled out resuming oil shipments.
"They are receiving oil from Russia, so we are turning to other humanitarian support," he stated in one of his morning press conferences.
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