By Phil Stewart and Oliver Griffin
WASHINGTON/BOGOTA (Reuters) – The United States and Colombia enabled a trade war on Sunday as President Donald Trump threatened tariffs and sanctions against the country to punish it for turning away military planes carrying deported migrants in the framework of its immigration crackdown.
Colombia, the third-largest U.S. trading partner in Latin America, quickly responded, with left-wing President Gustavo Petro first threatening a 50 percent tariff on U.S. goods and later posting on X that he had ordered his trade minister to increase tariffs on US imports by 25% from 25%.
Colombia is the second Latin American nation to refuse US military deportation flights. Trump’s punitive action demonstrated his more muscular US foreign policy and renewed willingness to force countries to bend to his will.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that Petro’s refusal to accept flights compromised U.S. national security.
The retaliatory measures include imposing 25% tariffs on all Colombian products in the United States, which will go up to 50% within a week; a travel ban and visa revocations on Colombian government officials; and emergency treasury, banks and financial sanctions.
Trump said he would also lead enhanced border inspections of Colombian nationals and goods.
“These measures are only the beginning,” he wrote. “We will not allow the Colombian government to violate its legal obligations regarding the acceptance and return of criminals they forced into the United States!”
He later posted a photo of himself on Truth Social in a pinstriped suit and fedora in front of a sign reading Fafo, a common slang acronym for “Fuck Autout and Dishout.”
America “will no longer be lied to or taken advantage of,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, adding that Petro had authorized the flights but then canceled its authorization when the planes were in the air.
A State Department spokesperson said the United States has suspended visa processing at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota.
Sweep crossover
Trump has declared illegal immigration a national emergency and imposed a sweeping crackdown since taking office last Monday. He ordered the U.S. military to assist with border security, issued a broad ban on asylum and took steps to restrict citizenship for children born on U.S. soil.
Colombia’s Petro condemned the practice on Sunday, suggesting it was treating migrants like criminals. In a post on social media platform X, Petro said Colombia would welcome deported migrants home on civilian planes.
He also offered his presidential plane to facilitate the “dignified return” of Colombian nationals.
Petro said that even if there were 15,660 Americans without legal immigration status in Colombia, he would never raid to return Americans in handcuffs to the United States
“We are the opposite of the Nazis,” he wrote.
Mexico also refused a request last week to let a U.S. military plane land with migrants.
Trump has not taken similar action against Mexico, the largest U.S. trading partner, but has said he plans to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1 to force further action. against illegal immigrants and fentanyl flowing into the United States
A White House source said the situation escalated quickly after Petro changed his mind about accepting the flights, with Trump taking “immediate action.”
“Absolutely. Yes. Countries have an obligation to accept repatriation flights,” the source said when asked if Trump was using Colombia to set an example. “The United States is simply returning the criminals that Colombia sent to the United States.”
Trade agreement partners
The United States is Colombia’s largest trading partner, largely due to a 2006 free trade agreement that generated $33.8 billion in two-way trade in 2023 and a US trade surplus of $1 .6 billion dollars, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
But Colombia ranks only 23rd among U.S. trading partners, meaning it may have more to lose.
Alejo Czerwonko, chief investment officer for Americas emerging markets at UBS Global Wealth Management, said Colombia has relied on access to the U.S. market for about a third of its exports, or about 4% of its GDP.
“Additionally, the Petro-Trump relationship got off to a bad start, which could signal additional challenges ahead,” Czerwonko told Reuters.
Colombia’s top 2023 exports to the United States were heavy, gold, coffee, cut roses, aluminum windows and diesel fuel, according to Census Bureau data. Its main imports from the United States were gasoline, civil aircraft, corn, naphthas and soybean solids.
Growing discontent
Petro’s comments added to the growing chorus of discontent in Latin America as Trump’s weeklong administration begins to mobilize for mass deportations.
Brazil’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned the “degrading treatment” of Brazilians after migrants were handcuffed on a commercial deportation flight. Upon arrival, some passengers also reported mistreatment during the flight, according to local reports.
The plane, which was carrying 88 Brazilian passengers, 16 U.S. security officers and eight crew members, was initially scheduled to arrive in Belo Horizonte in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.
However, during an unscheduled shutdown due to technical problems in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, Brazilian officials ordered the handcuffs removed, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva designated a Brazilian Air Force flight (FAB) to complete its journey, the government said in a statement on Saturday.
The commercial charter flight was the second this year from the United States carrying undocumented migrants deported to Brazil and the first since Trump’s inauguration, according to Brazil’s federal police.
U.S. officials did not respond to requests for comment on Brazil.
The use of U.S. military aircraft to conduct deportation flights is part of the Pentagon’s response to Trump’s national emergency declaration on immigration on Monday.
In the past, U.S. military aircraft have been used to move individuals from one country to another, such as during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
It was the first time in recent memory that U.S. military aircraft were used to take migrants out of the country, a U.S. official said.
U.S. military planes carried out two similar flights, each with about 80 migrants, in Guatemala on Friday.
