Trade Brief: Cuba's Forced-Labor Charcoal, Dutch Exports Fall, Argentina Cuts Taxes

Cuba's prison-labor charcoal keeps flowing to Spain

A report published by Prisoners Defenders, a human rights organization documenting political prisoners in Cuba, alleges that the Cuban government forces roughly 60,000 inmates to produce marabu charcoal, one of the island's main export commodities. The charcoal, widely used as a cooking fuel, is shipped mainly to Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy and Turkey, according to the report, which was based on 53 direct interviews with prisoners and 60 additional testimonies validated by the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research at the University of London's Birkbeck College.

The European Union imported roughly 87,000 tonnes of the charcoal last year, with Spain the top buyer at purchases worth $15.7 million (about €14.5 million) in 2023, the report says. Prisoners are paid between 32 and 64 U.S. cents per tonne produced, while the Cuban state sells the same tonne on the European market for an average of $500 (about €465) — a margin the report calculates at 99.96%. In Spain, a common 15-kilogram retail sack sells for roughly €19.50; of that, the Cuban regime collects about $7.88 (€7.30), Spanish distributors about $13.56 (€12.60), and the prisoner who produced it around $0.0092 (€0.0086). Prisoners Defenders says the same forced-labor system extends to sugar cane cutting, other agricultural output and cigar production, and estimates the pattern affects 60,000 of Cuba's roughly 90,000 prison inmates. Separately, another report indicates Cuban charcoal is set to become the first Cuban product exported to the United States in more than 50 years.

Dutch exports to the U.S. slide as fuel shipments shrink

Dutch goods exports to the United States fell 4.7% in the first ten months of 2025 compared with the same period of 2024, while imports from the U.S. rose nearly 2%, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported. The Netherlands shipped €27.5 billion worth of goods to the U.S. through October, down from €28.9 billion a year earlier; imports from the U.S. reached about €48.1 billion, up 1.9%. The decline began in July, and October exports alone totaled €2.22 billion, down from €3.25 billion a year earlier.

CBS attributed the drop mainly to an 8% fall in exports of goods manufactured in the Netherlands, while re-exports of foreign-made goods rose 3.9%. Mineral fuel exports fell the most sharply, down €2.2 billion year-on-year to €1.9 billion, partly reflecting lower fuel prices, while chemical product exports slipped nearly €300 million to €4.6 billion. Machinery and transport equipment exports rose overall to €11.9 billion from €11.2 billion, though the trend reversed from August as Dutch-made machinery shipments weakened. On the import side, higher volumes of machinery, transport equipment and chemicals from the U.S. drove the increase, even as mineral fuel imports fell by nearly €1.5 billion on lower volumes and prices.

Argentina, El Salvador and Ivory Coast recalibrate trade policy

Argentina plans to gradually eliminate taxes on some industrial exports, Reuters reported, part of a broader push by the government to ease the cost burden on manufacturers selling abroad. In El Salvador, industry groups are intensifying efforts to diversify export destinations beyond the country's traditional markets, aiming to strengthen its presence in non-traditional markets and capture new opportunities.

Separately, Ivory Coast — which has lost more than 80% of its forest cover since 1960 — is positioning itself to lead carbon-market policy for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), while a newly signed EU-Australia free trade agreement is expected to reshape trade relations between Spain and Australia, with Spanish coverage highlighting a potential trade-off between Australian coal-related exports and Spanish olive oil.