BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump stated Sunday that he was ordering tariffs, visa restrictions and different retaliatory measures to be taken towards Colombia after its authorities rejected two U.S. army flights carrying migrants.
Trump stated the measures had been obligatory as a result of the choice of Colombian President Gustavo Petro “jeopardized” nationwide safety within the U.S.
“These measures are only the start,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “We is not going to permit the Colombian Authorities to violate its authorized obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they compelled into the US.”
Earlier Sunday, Petro stated his authorities wouldn’t settle for flights carrying migrants deported from the U.S. till the Trump administration creates a protocol that treats them with “dignity.” Petro made the announcement in two X posts, one in all which included a information video of migrants reportedly deported to Brazil strolling on a tarmac with restraints on their arms and ft.
“A migrant shouldn’t be a felony and have to be handled with the dignity {that a} human being deserves,” Petro stated. “That’s the reason I returned the U.S. army planes that had been carrying Colombian migrants… In civilian planes, with out being handled like criminals, we’ll obtain our fellow residents.”
Christian Chavez through Related Press
After Trump’s announcement, Petro introduced in a put up on X that he had ordered the “overseas commerce minister to lift import tariffs from the U.S. by 25%.”
Colombia accepted 475 deportation flights from the US from 2020 to 2024, fifth behind Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador, in response to Witness on the Border, an advocacy group that tracks flight information. It accepted 124 deportation flights in 2024.
Final yr, Colombia and different nations started accepting U.S.-funded deportation flights from Panama.
The U.S. authorities didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from The Related Press concerning plane and protocols utilized in deportations to Colombia.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a press release stated Petro “canceled his authorization” for the flights when the plane had been within the air.
No official order had been issued as of Sunday afternoon that might permit for the implementation of the measures Trump introduced.
“This can be a clear message we’re sending that nations have an obligation to simply accept repatriation flights,” a senior administration official instructed the AP. The official spoke on the situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to debate difficulty publicly.
Pablo Vera/AFP through Getty Pictures
Colombians emerged in recent times as a serious presence on the U.S. border with Mexico, aided partly by a visa regime that enables them to simply fly to Mexico and keep away from trekking although the treacherous Darien Hole. They ranked fourth with 127,604 arrests for unlawful crossings throughout a 12-month interval by September, behind Mexicans, Guatemalans and Venezuelans.
Mexico hasn’t imposed visa restrictions on Colombians, as they have on Venezuelans, Ecuadoreans and Peruvians.
The federal government of Petro, a former leftist guerrilla, in a press release later introduced that the South American nation’s presidential plane had been made obtainable to facilitate the return of migrants who had been to reach hours earlier on the U.S. army airplanes and assure them “dignified situations.”
As a part of a flurry of actions to make good on Trump’s marketing campaign guarantees to crack down on unlawful immigration, his authorities is utilizing active-duty army to assist safe the border and perform deportations.
Two U.S. Air Power C-17 cargo planes carrying migrants faraway from the U.S. touched down early Friday in Guatemala. That very same day, Honduras acquired two deportation flights carrying a complete of 193 individuals.
Mauro Pimentel/AFP through Getty Pictures
In saying what he referred to as “pressing and decisive retaliatory measures,” Trump defined that he ordered “25% tariffs on all items coming into the US,” which might be raised to 50% in a single week. He stated he additionally ordered “A Journey Ban and rapid Visa Revocations” on Colombian authorities officers, allies and supporters.
“All Celebration Members, Household Members, and Supporters of the Colombian Authorities,” Trump wrote can be topic to “Visa Sanctions.” He didn’t say to which occasion he was referring to or present any further particulars on the visa and journey restrictions.
Trump added that each one Colombians will face enhanced customs inspections.
Trump’s actions would appear to undercut his aim to cut back his nation’s commerce deficit. Not like Mexico or China, Colombia is likely one of the few nations with a commerce deficit with the U.S., of round $1.4 billion, in response to U.S. commerce information.
Colombia is the U.S.’s second largest purchaser of corn and corn feed, in response to the U.S. grains council, serving to increase U.S. commodity exports from farm belt states like Iowa, Indiana and Nebraska to greater than $733 million final yr.
The U.S. export growth has been pushed by a two-decade-old free commerce settlement between the 2 nations, which have for lengthy been shut companions within the conflict on medication. It’s unclear if Trump’s tariffs are allowed beneath the settlement, which incorporates a dispute mechanism to resolve commerce fights.
Colombia is the U.S.’s fourth-largest abroad provider of crude oil, delivery about 209,000 barrels of oil per day final yr, though booming home manufacturing has lowered the U.S.’ dependence on overseas oil. The South American nation can be the U.S.’s largest provider of contemporary reduce flowers.
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Regina Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Jill Colvin in New York, Joshua Goodman in Miami, and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.
