--- description: The Eisenhower administration imposed the first trade embargo on Cuba exactly 55 years ago, on Oct. 19, 1960. title: US Trade Embargo on Cuba Just Hit 55 Years image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte108ac3122c5be9a/698868a82dce01c7669e60db/castro.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [trade](/tag/trade/) ## trade Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The U.S. Trade Embargo on Cuba Just Hit 55 Years  by [Merrill Fabry](/author/merrill-fabry/)  ## Merrill Fabry Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 19, 2015 3:00 PM CUT  Fidel Castro announces general mobilization after the announcement of Cuba blockade by US President John F Kennedy, in Havana, on Oct. 29, 1962. Fidel Castro announces general mobilization after the announcement of Cuba blockade by US President John F Kennedy, in Havana, on Oct. 29, 1962.Keystone-France—Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images  by [Merrill Fabry](/author/merrill-fabry/)  ## Merrill Fabry Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 19, 2015 3:00 PM CUT It’s been exactly 55 years since President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s State Department imposed the first trade embargo on Cuba on Oct. 19, 1960\. The original embargo covered all U.S. exports to Cuba except for medicine and some foods. President John F. Kennedy expanded the embargo to cover U.S. imports from Cuba and made it permanent on Feb. 7, 1962. Although relations between the two countries [warmed this year](http://time.com/3943191/obama-cuba-embassy/ "undefined"), the embargo is still in place and an act of Congress is required to remove it. The origins of the embargo go back even further, to when Fidel Castro came to [power Jan. 1, 1959](http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891359,00.html "undefined"). He quickly lost American support as he publicized private land and companies, and imposed heavy taxes on imports from the U.S. In the first year of Castro’s regime, U.S. trade with Cuba decreased 20%. Just before the U.S. imposed the embargo, Cuba made another jab at “the Yankee imperialists.” In a single night, Castro’s Cabinet nationalized 382 businesses, “including 105 sugar mills, 13 department stores, 18 distilleries, 61 textile factories, eight railways and all banks, save the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Nova Scotia,” [according to TIME. ](http://time.com/vault/issue/1960-10-24/page/44/ "undefined")“The U.S. need not worry that a strategic embargo will damage private industry in Cuba,” the magazine noted. “It no longer exists.” [TIME further explained](http://time.com/vault/issue/1960-10-31/page/28/ "undefined") the embargo in a 1960 article: --- > “” --- The U.S. Commerce Secretary was blasé about the embargo’s potential to drive Cuba further to the Soviet side, saying, “Too bad. After all, we’ve been the ones who’ve been pushed around lately.” It’s one of the longest running embargoes in U.S. history. The embargo against North Korea, however, is even older. **_Read more about the embargo on Cuba, here in the TIME Vault_**: [The End of Patience](http://time.com/vault/issue/1960-10-31/page/28/ "undefined") **_Read more:_** [Why Did the U.S. and Cuba Sever Diplomatic Ties in the First Place?](http://time.com/3637822/cuba-history/ "undefined") ### A History of Cuba-U.S. Relations in 13 TIME Covers  Fulgencio Batista on the Apr. 26, 1937, cover of TIME TIME  Fidel Castro on the Jan. 26, 1959, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BORIS CHALIAPIN  Che Guevara on the Aug. 8, 1960, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Jose Miro Cardona on the Apr. 28, 1961, cover of TIME TIME  Blas Roca on the Apr. 27, 1962, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Adm. George Anderson on the Nov. 2, 1962, cover of TIME Boris Chaliapin  Fidel Castro on the Oct. 8, 1965, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Fidel Castro (and others) on the Jun. 13, 1969, cover of TIME Cover Credit: KARSH, HARRY REDL, BEN MARTIN.  Fidel Castro and Cyrus Vance on the Sept. 17, 1979, cover of TIME Cover Credit: RODDEY E. MIMS; HIRES-GAMMA/LIAISON.  Fidel Castro on the Dec. 6, 1993, cover of TIME Cover Credit: GIANFRANCO GORGONI  The Sept. 5, 1994, cover of TIME Cover Credit: PAUL DAVIS  Fidel Castro on the Feb. 20, 1995, cover of TIME Cover Credit: DAVID BURNETT  Fidel Castro and the Pope on the Jan. 26, 1998, cover of TIME Cover Credit: GERARD RANCINAN ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4076438/us-cuba-embargo-1960/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4076438/us-cuba-embargo-1960/"},"headline":"The U.S. Trade Embargo on Cuba Just Hit 55 Years","datePublished":"2015-10-19T15:00:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:14.629Z","description":"The Eisenhower administration imposed the first trade embargo on Cuba exactly 55 years ago, on Oct. 19, 1960","url":"https://time.com/4076438/us-cuba-embargo-1960/","keywords":["trade","politics","Cuba topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte108ac3122c5be9a/698868a82dce01c7669e60db/castro.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Merrill Fabry","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/merrill-fabry/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte108ac3122c5be9a/698868a82dce01c7669e60db/castro.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Fidel Castro Announces General Mobilization After Announcement Of Cuba Blockade By US President John F Kennedy","caption":"Fidel Castro Announces General Mobilization After Announcement Of Cuba Blockade By US President John F Kennedy","creditText":"Keystone-France—Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trade/","name":"trade"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4076438/us-cuba-embargo-1960/","name":"The U.S. Trade Embargo on Cuba Just Hit 55 Years"}}]}] ```