Following Colombia's government's refusal to accept two military cargo aircraft transporting deported Colombians, President Trump said on Sunday that he was enacting hefty sanctions and high tariffs on the country. The most recent: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declared Sunday night that Trump will not slap tariffs on Colombia after all, after the Latin American country agreed to meet all of his requirements, including returning Colombians deported from the United States.
Why it's important Even during the administration of socialist President Gustavo Petro, the Latin American nation has long been an important friend of the United States. According to the U.S. State Department, Colombia's biggest trading and investment partner is the United States, with over $39 billion in goods and services exchanged between the two nations in 2022.
Quickly catch up: This weekend, Petro directed Colombian authorities to reject military aircraft transporting deportees. In a post on X, he stated that the United States should repatriate Colombian migrants on commercial aircraft since it cannot treat them like criminals. "I can't force migrants to stay in a country where they're not wanted, but that country should return them with dignity and respect toward them and also our country," Petro stated.
In response to the rejection to accept the flights, Trump announced in a Truth Social post that he was enacting immediate 25% tariffs on all goods entering the United States from Colombia, prohibiting Colombian government officials from traveling, and enacting additional significant financial consequences. The Colombian foreign trade minister was instructed by Petro to "raise tariffs on imports from the U.S. to 25%." This was a noteworthy response to X.
"The ministry ought to assist in guiding our exports to countries outside of the United States," he continued. We need to increase our exports. Play situation: Trump wrote that the tariffs would increase to 50% in a week.
The president claimed that in addition to the travel ban and tariffs, he gave his administration instructions to cancel the visas of Colombian government officials and impose visa restrictions on all members of the Colombian government's family and allies. He also mandated more thorough examinations of Colombian citizens and goods "on national security grounds."
According to a statement from the Colombian president's office, Petro has made arrangements for his presidential plane to assist in repatriating Colombians who have been deported from the United States. "The measure responds to the government's commitment to guarantee dignified conditions," said the statement. These measures are just the beginning," Trump wrote, expressing their sentiment. "We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!"
Zoom out: Trump promised to remove millions of undocumented immigrants from the country throughout his campaign, and he started his immigration crackdown with a number of broad executive orders in his first week in office. According to Trump's "border czar," Tom Homan, the U.S. government will carry out deportation flights on a daily basis, ABC News said. On Tuesday, the administration unveiled a new rule that significantly increased the scope of expedited removal for foreign nationals who are unable to provide proof of continuous residency in the United States for the previous two years. With Trump declaring a national emergency in the area and the government seeking to acquire more planes to expedite deportations, the Pentagon said Wednesday it would deploy an extra 1,500 troops to the southern border.
According to the Associated Press, two Air Force C-17 cargo planes that were transporting migrants who had been taken out of the United States touched down in Guatemala on Friday morning. On the same day, two more deportation planes landed in Honduras. The government of the country was incensed when a second aircraft to Brazil landed on Saturday and the 88 passengers were shown in handcuffs, which the foreign ministry described as a "flagrant disregard" for their rights. What we're watching: According to Ben Berkowitz of Axios, Trump's retaliatory tariffs may cause coffee costs, which are already on the rise, to rise even more, making coffee more expensive for ...See More
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