Donald Trump’s threat to Colombia to impose a tariff of up to 50% for rejecting U.S. planes with detained Colombian migrants was stopped after the reconsideration of accepting the arrival of this type of transport.
Following the correction of this decision on Sunday, the White House informed that the arrival of all illegal immigrants from Colombia returning from the United States was accepted without restrictions.
This includes arrivals via U.S. military aircraft, without limitations or delays.
Donald Trump’s threat to Colombia
Below you can see the trend of exports of Colombian products to the United States, in millions of dollars, according to data from the Department of Commerce:
- 2018: 13,752.
- 2019: 14,151.
- 2020: 10,780.
- 2021: 13,175.
- 2022: 18,479.
- 2023: 16,115.
- 2024 (January-November): 16,210.
Tariffs
For various reasons, Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on nations in North America, Europe, Asia and South America.
From before, many analysts have predicted that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is one of the most likely options Trump will use to impose tariffs, if he ends up doing so.
Indeed, in the case of Colombia, the White House drafted a memo arguing that Trump has the authority to use IEEPA, which gives a president broad authority to control economic transactions if they declare an emergency.
Trade partners and allies
Colombia is a key U.S. security and economic partner in South America. Although it has received U.S. assistance since 2000 under Plan Colombia, it continues to face illegal armed groups and leads the world in cocaine production. This assistance helped the Colombian government strengthen its security forces, recover territory and improve rural security.
It also weakened the FARC, which enabled the signing of the peace agreement in 2016, ending decades of civil conflict and reducing crime. However, following the demobilization of the FARC, new groups are vying for control of drug trafficking and other illicit activities in areas with limited state presence.
Since the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement came into force in 2012, trade in goods between the two countries has more than doubled. In 2023, the United States remained Colombia’s largest trading partner, accounting for 26% of Colombia’s total trade.
Bilateral trade in goods and services reached US$49.9 billion in 2023, up from US$54.1 billion in 2022.