And Now There Is One… And Possibly None

Why Did Trump-Vance Administration Momentum Stall In Providing BIS, DOD, OFAC, OLA Acquisition Licenses And Authorizations?

From 3 January 2026, the Trump-Vance Administration (2025-2029) has crafted and implemented strategies designed to alter the status quo in the Republic of Cuba for non-Republic of Cuba-based companies.

Donald Trump, President of the United States (2017-2021 and 2025-2029) is a self-proclaimed deal-maker-in-chief.

Surprising then his team prevents him from authorizing what would be the largest United States-Republic of Cuba commercial deal in sixty-seven years? And, inducing a settlement for assets of United States-based companies expropriated by the government of the Republic of Cuba- an accountability his twelve predecessors left unresolved. Why did The White House not take yes for an answer and put a win in the win column?

An effort by a United States-based investor connected politically to the Republican Party, Trump-Pence Administration (2017-2021), and Trump-Vance Administration to acquire Toronto, Canada-based Sherritt International Corporation (2025 revenue approximately US$389 million) expired on 12 October 2026.

Sherritt International Corporation has cobalt, nickel, and energy (30% interest in Energas S.A.) operations in the Republic of Cuba.

Sherritt International Corporation connectivity with the Republic of Cuba has been interrupted due to inclusions of related entities in the Specially Designated National (SDN) And Blocked Persons List by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury.

Thus far this week, there is no statement from Mr. Ray Washburne of Dallas, Texas-based Gillon Capital LLC. There is no statement from Sherritt International Corporation. There is no statement from London, United Kingdom-based Kyma Capital Ltd. (approximately US$440 million assets under management) which leads a consortium interested in acquiring Sherritt International Corporation. There is no statement from the government of Canada. There is no statement from the government of the Republic of Cuba. There is no statement from the Trump-Vance Administration which months ago informed Gillon Capital LLC and Kyma Capital Ltd. that Washington DC did not object to discussions about acquiring Sherritt International Corporation- but, no specific authorization was required for discussions, only for a transaction.

For a transaction to be completed, The White House will need to direct the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the United States Department of Commerce; OFAC; United States Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (USFCSC) of the United States Department of Justice; and Office of the Legal Adviser (OLA) of the United States Department of State, to issue guidance, certify, issue licenses, and probably report sufficient changes within the Republic of Cuba which provide the Executive Branch with authorities to alter provisions of United States statutes.

The decisions will require attention to and reframing of provisions within Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) of 1917; International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977; Cuban Democracy Act (CDA) of 1994; Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (Libertad Act) of 1996; and Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act (TSREEA) of 2000.

The decisions and reframing were expected to be challenging for some to digest. The White House was expected to frame its decisions in part as patriotic and supporting entirely both the “Donroe Doctrine” which is the President Trump Corollary to the 1823 [James] Monroe Doctrine and “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) agenda and ethos, particularly the control and sourcing of critical minerals.

The acquisition of Sherritt International Corporation including an individual (company) subject to United States jurisdiction, which is the case with both Gillon Capital LLC and Kyma Capital Ltd, would provide the Trump-Vance Administration an opportunity to simultaneously hold accountable the government of the Republic of Cuba for expropriation of an asset owned by a United States-based company and secure a settlement of the third-largest and perhaps partial settlement of the largest of the 5,913 claims certified by the USFCSC and make available for import to the United States additional supplies of cobalt and nickel.

CU-2619: MOA Bay Mining Company, Improved Real Property, Oriente, Republic of Cuba, US$88,349,000.00. Link To Claim Filing In PDF Format
CUBAN ELECTRIC COMPANY A/K/A COMPAÑIA CUBANA DE ELECTRICIDAD, Plaintiff, v. UNIÓN ELÉCTRICA AND ENERGAS S.A., Defendants. (1:26-cv-02675-JDB). Link To Complaint

The Trump-Vance Administration was reportedly nearing a series of policy and regulatory decisions to demonstrably alter and impact the commercial, economic, financial, military, political, and societal landscape of the Republic of Cuba and create, define, and redefine how the United States private sector re-engages within the Republic of Cuba. Until it wasn’t.

For direction and reference, posit how the Trump-Vance Administration has intertwined public sector interests and private sector interests including in the Republic of Armenia, Republic of Azerbaijan, Russian Federation, Syrian Arab Republic, and Ukraine.
For direction and reference, posit how the Trump-Vance Administration has intertwined public sector interests and private sector interests in United States-based companies including Intel Corporation, L3 Harris, Lithium Americas, MP Materials, Trilogy Metals, USA Rare Earth, U.S. Steel, Vulcan Elements, Westinghouse, and Xlight.

Now, Sherritt International Corporation may seek protections afforded by the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), which is the government of Canada equivalent to the reorganization provisions in Chapter Eleven of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

Next to watch is what the consortium consisting of Kyma Capital Ltd.; London, United Kingdom-based Trifon Natsis (a partner in Jersey (Channel Islands), Crown Dependency-based Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP (2026 assets under management approximately US$31 billion)); Baar, Switzerland-based Glencore International AG (2025 revenue approximately US$247.5 billion); and an unidentified United States-based party. Kyma Capital Ltd. owns approximately 13.43% of common shares of Sherritt International Corporation.

NOTE: Bloomberg has identified the United States-based party as Dallas, Texas-based Albert Huddleston, although Mr. Huddleston has not publicly confirmed his connectivity with the consortium prior to or after the information published by Bloomberg. There is speculation that neither Glencore International AG nor Mr. Huddleston are no longer members of the consortium.

Absent United States-based connectivity, the Trump-Vance Administration is unlikely to approve an acquisition of Sherritt International Corporation and remove sanctions impacting the companies implemented by the BIS, OFAC, and United States Department of State.

The Trump-Vance Administration strategies are designed to coerce management to abandon, exit, or restructure operations. A primary goal is to require management to include a United States-based entity as a shareholder- preferably controlling and majority.

Where a non-Republic of Cuba-based company has an operation subject to a claim certified by the USFCSC, the Trump-Vance Administration is requiring a settlement.

There are 8,821 claims of which 5,913 awards valued at US$1,902,202,284.95 were certified by the USFCSC and have not been resolved for sixty-one years (some assets were officially confiscated in the 1960’s, some in the 1970’s and some in the 1990’s). The USFCSC permitted simple interest (not compound interest) of 6% per annum (approximately US$114,132,137.10); with the approximate current value of the 5,913 certified claims is approximately US$9.4 billion.

An acquisition of Sherritt International Corporation may be complicated or may be enhanced by a Libertad Act Title III Lawsuit filed on 29 July 2026.

By incorporating a settlement of the third-largest certified claim with a settlement of a component of the largest certified claim, meaningful impediments would be addressed for United States-based companies as sources of Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) for the Republic of Cuba.

Greenwich, Connecticut-based Atlas Holdings (2025 assets approximately US$16 billion) which owns Boca Raton-based Office Depot, Inc. (2025 revenue approximately US$7 billion) which is the owner of the Cuban Electric Company which has the largest certified claim valued at US$267,568,413.62, filed a Libertad Act Title III lawsuit again Republic of Cuba government-operated Union Electrica and Energas S.A. (within which Sherritt International Corporation has a 33% shareholding).

From the company: “Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut and founded in 2002, Atlas and its affiliates own and operate 27 companies, which employ more than 57,000 associates across more than 350 facilities worldwide. Atlas operates in sectors such as automotive supply, building materials, capital equipment, construction services, food manufacturing and distribution, metals processing, packaging, paper, power generation, printing, pulp, supply chain management and wood products. Atlas’ companies together generate approximately $18 billion in revenues annually.”

CUBAN ELECTRIC COMPANY A/K/A COMPAÑIA CUBANA DE ELECTRICIDAD, Plaintiff, v. UNIÓN ELÉCTRICA AND ENERGAS S.A., Defendants. (1:26-cv-02675-JDB). NOTE: Steptoe LLP also represents the eighth-largest curtained claimant Spring, Texas-based ExxonMobil Corporation (2025 revenue approximately US$332 billion) in its Libertad Act Title III lawsuit filed in 2019 against Republic of Cuba government-operated Corporación Cimex, S.A., and Republic of Cuba government-operated Unión Cuba-Petróleo (CUPET). Link To Complaint

From the complaint: “Defendant Energas S.A. is an enterprise organized under the laws of Cuba as a joint venture with three equal owners: 1/3 owner UNE, 1/3 owner Unión Cubapetróleo (“CUPET”), Cuba’s state-owned oil company, and 1/3 owner Sherritt International Corporation (“Sherritt”), a minerals company which is a corporation organized under the laws of Canada with its principal place of business in Canada. Thus, Energas is majority-owned by Cuban state-owned entities. Energas processes raw natural gas, which is supplied to Energas free of charge by CUPET. Energas also generates electricity for sale to the national grid, providing approximately 10% of Cuba’s total electrical generating capacity. Energas’ principal place of business is in Cuba, and it has operations throughout the country.”

The Trump-Pence Administration on 2 May 2019 made operational Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996 (known as “Libertad Act”).

Title III authorizes lawsuits in United States District Courts against companies and individuals who are using a certified claim or non-certified claim where the owner of the certified claim or non-certified claim has not received compensation from the Republic of Cuba or from a third-party who is using (“trafficking”) the asset. Link To Libertad Act Lawsuit Filing Statistics

LINK TO COMPLETE ANALYSIS IN PDF FORMAT