Swiss trade with Cuba stifled by fears of US sanctions

Mismanagement and sanctions are taking a heavy toll on Cuba. Yamil Lage / AFP

The Cuban economy is in tatters. And Swiss companies are finding it harder than ever to do business with the island. Bank transfers are becoming increasingly difficult, as financial institutions are wary of US sanctions.

Trade between Cuba and Switzerland now amounts to just a few million Swiss francs, and Switzerland’s main exports to Havana are paper and cardboard. While revenue stood at over CHF2.7 million ($3.4 million) in 2025, this amounted to barely CHF1 million in the first half of 2026.

Revenue from Swiss watch exports shrank from CHF1.4 million in 2025 to just over CHF357,000 in the first half of 2026. Meanwhile, Swiss pharmaceutical exports have fallen to just four figures: exports in this sector came to just under CHF9,000 from January to June 2026.

According to the Swiss-Cuban Chamber of Commerce (SwissCubanCham), this is not due to a lack of business interest. “When a Swiss company does business with Cuba, bank orders, invoices or guarantees can be issued by state banks. But the company almost never manages to collect the payments,” explains Ursin Mirer, president of SwissCubanCham. It often fails because payments cannot actually be processed.

One of the problems lies in Cuba’s state-dominated economic system and the chronic shortage of foreign currency. This is why Cuban entities are regularly unable to settle their debts to foreign companies.

However, it is also due to the United States tightening its long-standing sanctions against Cuba last year. Financial service providers in Europe and Latin America are therefore looking to minimise their risk by carrying out as few transactions as possible with countries affected by US sanctions. This is referred to as de-risking: financial service providers tend to reduce or terminate business relationships if they are considered to be at potential risk of sanctions. This apparently goes so far that a Swiss businessman or businesswoman might even travel to Havana with a suitcase full of cash to pay local partners.

Consequently, fewer Swiss companies are interested in economic relations with Cuba. This has become evident to SwissCubanCham. “Today we have only around 40 member companies, compared with 60 or 70 a few years ago. The companies don’t feel protected,” Mirer says.

Trinidad, where many residents are facing severe economic hardship, in May 2026. The decline in visitor numbers has been exacerbated by fuel shortages linked to sanctions against Cuba, which are contributing to recurring power cuts and transport problems across the country. Magdalena Chodownik / AFP

When Cuba becomes a banking risk: the case of Swiss tour operators

One example of a Swiss company that specialises in Cuba and is grappling with difficulties is Caribbean Tours, a Zurich-based tour operator that has specialised in trips to Cuba for the past 26 years. “In recent years, we brought around 15,000 tourists to Cuba every year. Today, there are practically none left, resulting in a complete collapse in our turnover,” explains owner Reto Rüfenacht.

But Rüfenacht is not only facing problems in his direct business dealings with Cuba. He is also experiencing a knock-on effect from international financial controls and US secondary sanctions.

Caribbean Tours supplies holiday packages to major European tour operators such as DERTOUR Group and Kuoni. According to Rüfenacht, however, the risk associated with Cuba also affects activities that have no direct connection to the island. “Every one of our bank transfers is automatically linked to Cuba by the banks’ control systems, even when they involve completely different destinations such as Mexico or Belize,” he says.

To be able to pay its local partners on the island, the company therefore sometimes has to resort to unusual solutions. “European customers pay us in Swiss francs in Switzerland, but to get the funds to Cuba, at the moment I sometimes take the cash with me in my suitcase,” Rüfenacht explains. “The money has to arrive directly on the island so that we can pay for local services, tour guides and hotels.”

European companies also under pressure

European companies doing business with Cuba face the same problems. “The United States claims territorial jurisdiction as soon as a transaction has a link to its financial system,” explains Cedric Ryngaert, professor of public international law at Utrecht University. “The mere involvement of an American correspondent bank handling clearing in US dollars may be sufficient. This can cause a European transaction to fall under US jurisdiction.”

To protect European companies, there is the Blocking Statute, an EU regulation that prohibits European companies from complying with extraterritorial US sanctions. In practice, however, the effectiveness of this regulation is limited.

“The Blocking Statute does not work perfectly,” Ryngaert explains. “It prohibits European companies from complying with US sanctions. However, many banks still prefer to minimise risks, so they terminate or restrict certain business relationships to avoid potential consequences on the US market.”

According to Ryngaert, many financial institutions therefore attribute such decisions to general internal risk assessments, rather than openly stating that they are following US guidelines. The result is that, for many European companies doing business with Cuba, financial channels are becoming more complicated, more expensive and less secure.

When even Panama is no longer an option

For years, some Swiss companies have been trying to find alternative ways to process payments with Cuba. One of the key hubs was Panama, which historically played a significant role in Cuban financial transactions.

“It was still possible to work with certain banks and use Panama to transfer money to Cuba. Or, conversely, to send money from Cuba to Panama and subsequently receive payments via Spain or other countries,” explains Mirer of SwissCubanCham.

But this channel, too, is now effectively closed. With growing pressure from US sanctions and international financial controls, Panama’s banks have severely restricted or even ceased their activities relating to Cuba. “Today, it’s not possible to conduct business with Cuba via Panama. What used to be possible is now hardly possible at all,” Mirer says.

A market without guarantees

To revitalise economic relations between Switzerland and Cuba, other structural conditions would need to be put in place. “First and foremost is legal certainty, followed by genuine protection for foreign companies and, finally, the question of currency,” Mirer explains.

Small to medium-sized Swiss businesses, which are less able to manage late payments and financial difficulties, have gradually reduced or ceased their activities. Those remaining are primarily international conglomerates such as Nestlé and Roche, or a handful of smaller companies that are persevering.

Edited by Benjamin von Wyl. Adapted from German by Katherine Price/ts