The U.S.
and Colombia stumbled towards a trade war on Sunday as President Donald Trump threatened tariffs and sanctions on the country to punish it for turning away military aircraft bring migrants being deported as part of his immigration crackdown, Reuters reported.Colombia, the third biggest U.S.
trading partner in Latin America, quickly responded, with leftist President Gustavo Petro first threatening a 50% tariff on U.S.
items and later on posting on X that he had directed his trade minister to increase tariffs on U.S.
imports by 25%.
Colombia is the 2nd Latin American country to decline U.S.
military deportation flights.
Trump&& s punitive action demonstrated his more muscular U.S.
diplomacy and his restored determination to force countries to flex to his will.Trump wrote on Truth Social that Petro&& s refusal to accept the flights endangered U.S.
national security.The vindictive measures consist of imposing 25% tariffs on all Colombian products coming into the U.S., which will go up to 50% in one week; a travel restriction and visa cancellations on Colombian federal government officials; and emergency situation treasury, banking and financial sanctions.Trump said he would also direct improved border examinations of Colombian nationals and cargo.&& These measures are simply the beginning,& & he composed.
& We will not allow the Colombian Government to break its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!&& He later on published an image of himself on Truth Social in a pinstripe fit and a fedora in front of a sign reading FAFO, a common slang acronym for && Fuck Around and Find Out&& .
America will & no longer be lied to nor made the most of,& & U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a declaration, including that Petro had licensed these flights but then canceled his authorization when the airplanes remained in the air.A State Department spokesperson said the United States has suspended visa processing at the U.S.
embassy in Bogota, read the report.Trump declared illegal migration a nationwide emergency and enforced a sweeping crackdown because taking office last Monday.
He directed the U.S.
military to help with border security, released a broad ban on asylum and took steps to restrict citizenship for kids born upon U.S.
soil.Colombia&& s Petro condemned the practice on Sunday, suggesting it cured migrants like criminals.
In a post on social media platform X, Petro said Colombia would invite home deported migrants on civilian planes.He likewise used his governmental aircraft to facilitate the && dignified return& & of Colombian nationals.Petro stated even though there were 15,660 Americans without legal immigration status in Colombia, he would never ever perform a raid to return handcuffed Americans to the U.S.&& We are the opposite of the Nazis,& & he wrote.Mexico also refused a demand recently to let a U.S.
military airplane land with migrants.Trump did not take comparable action against Mexico, the biggest U.S.
trading partner, but has actually said he is thinking about enforcing 25% tasks on imports from Canada and Mexico on Feb.
1 to require more action against prohibited immigrants and fentanyl flowing into the U.S, Reuters reported.A White House source said that the situation intensified quickly after Petro altered his mind about accepting the flights, with Trump taking && immediate action.&&& & Absolutely.
Yes.
Nations have a responsibility to accept repatriation flights,& & the source said when asked if Trump was using Colombia to set an example.
&& The United States is merely sending back the lawbreakers that Colombia sent out to the United States.&& The U.S.
is Colombia & s biggest trading partner, mostly due to a 2006 free trade agreement that created $33.8 billion in two-way trade in 2023 and a $1.6 billion U.S.
trade surplus, according to U.S.
Census Bureau data.But Colombia ranks just 23rd among U.S.
trading partners, which suggests it may have more to lose.Alejo Czerwonko, chief investment officer for emerging markets Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management, stated Colombia relied on access to the U.S.
market for about a 3rd of its exports, or about 4% of its GDP.&& In addition, the Petro-Trump relationship has started on the wrong foot, which could signify additional difficulties ahead,& & Czerwonko told Reuters.Colombia&& s leading 2023 exports to the U.S.
were heavy crude oil, gold, coffee, cut roses, aluminum windows and diesel fuel, Census Bureau data revealed.
Its top imports from the U.S.
were gasoline, civilian aircraft, corn, naphthas, and soybean solids.Petro&& s comments added to the growing chorus of discontent in Latin America as Trump&& s week-old administration starts mobilizing for mass deportations.Brazil&& s foreign ministry on Saturday condemned && breaking down treatment& & of Brazilians after migrants were handcuffed on a business deportation flight.
Upon arrival, some travelers likewise reported mistreatment throughout the flight, according to local news reports.The airplane, which was carrying 88 Brazilian travelers, 16 U.S.
security agents, and eight team members, had been initially set up to arrive in Belo Horizonte in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.However, at an unscheduled stop due to technical problems in Manaus, capital of Amazonas, Brazilian officials purchased elimination of the handcuffs, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva designated a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) flight to finish their journey, the federal government stated in a statement on Saturday.The commercial charter flight was the 2nd this year from the U.S.
bring undocumented migrants deported back to Brazil and the very first considering that Trump&& s inauguration, according to Brazil&& s federal police.U.S.
officials did not reply to requests for comment about Brazil.The use of U.S.
military airplane to carry out deportation flights belongs to the Pentagon&& s action to Trump&& s nationwide emergency declaration on immigration on Monday.In the past, U.S.
military aircraft have actually been utilized to move people from one nation to another, like throughout the U.S.
withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
This has been the very first time in recent memory that U.S.
military aircraft were utilized to fly migrants out of the nation, one U.S.
official said.U.S.
military airplane performed two similar flights, each with about 80 migrants, to Guatemala on Friday, Reuters reported.The post Trump imposes tariffs, sanctions on Colombia after it declines deportation flights first appeared on Ariana News.