Trump vows tariffs, sanctions on Colombia over denial of US deportation flights

WASHINGTON: The US and Colombia lurched toward a trade war on Sunday (Jan 26) as President Donald Trump threatened tariffs and sanctions on the country to punish it for turning away military aircraft carrying migrants being deported as part of his immigration crackdown.

Colombia, the third largest US trading partner in Latin America, swiftly responded, threatening a 50 per cent tariff on US goods. The country's leftist president, Gustavo Petro, later posted on X that he directed his trade minister to increase tariffs on US imports by 25 per cent.

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 his renewed willingness to force countries to bend to his will.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that Petro's refusal to accept the flights jeopardised US national security.

The retaliatory measures include imposing 25 per cent tariffs on all Colombian goods coming into the US, which will go up to 50 per cent in one week; a travel ban and visa revocations on Colombian government officials; and emergency treasury, banking and financial sanctions.

Trump said he would also direct enhanced border inspections of Colombian nationals and cargo.

"These measures are just the beginning," Trump wrote. "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!"

America will "no longer be lied to nor taken advantage of", US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement, adding that Petro had authorised these flights but then cancelled his authorisation when the planes were in the air.

A State Department spokesperson said the United States has suspended visa processing at the US embassy in Bogota.

SWEEPING CRACKDOWN

Trump declared illegal immigration a national emergency and imposed a sweeping crackdown since taking office last Monday. He directed the US military to help with border security, issued a broad ban on asylum and took steps to restrict citizenship for children born on US soil.

Colombia's Petro condemned the practice on Sunday, suggesting it treated migrants like criminals. In a post on social media platform X, Petro said Colombia would welcome home deported migrants on civilian planes.

He also offered his presidential plane to facilitate the "dignified return" of Colombian nationals.

Petro said even though there were 15,660 Americans without legal immigration status in Colombia, he would never carry out a raid to return handcuffed Americans to the US

"We are the opposite of the Nazis," he wrote.

Mexico also refused a request last week to let a US military aircraft land with migrants.

Trump did not take similar action against Mexico, the largest US trading partner, but has said he was thinking about imposing 25 per cent duties on imports from Canada and Mexico on Feb 1 to force further action against illegal immigrants and fentanyl flowing into the US.

A White House source said that 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 sending back the criminals that Colombia sent to the United States."

TRADE DEAL PARTNERS

The US is Colombia's largest trading partner, largely due to a 2006 free trade agreement that generated US$33.8 billion in two-way trade in 2023 and a US$1.6 billion US trade surplus, according to US Census Bureau data.

But Colombia ranks just 23rd among US trading partners, which means it may have more to lose.

Alejo Czerwonko, chief investment officer for emerging markets Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management, said Colombia relied on access to the US market for about a third of its exports, or about 4 per cent of its GDP.

"In addition, the Petro-Trump relationship has started off on the wrong foot, which could signal additional challenges ahead," Czerwonko told Reuters.

Colombia's top 2023 exports to the US were heavy crude oil, gold, coffee, cut roses, aluminum windows and diesel fuel, Census Bureau data showed. Its top imports from the US were gasoline, civilian aircraft, corn, naphthas, and soybean solids.

GROWING DISCONTENT

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 "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 news reports.

The plane, which was carrying 88 Brazilian passengers, 16 US security agents, and eight crew members, had been originally scheduled 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 ordered removal of the handcuffs, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva designated a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) flight to complete their journey, the government said in a statement on Saturday.

The commercial charter flight was the second this year from the US carrying undocumented migrants deported back to Brazil and the first since Trump's inauguration, according to Brazil's federal police.

US officials did not reply to requests for comment about Brazil.

The use of US military aircraft to carry out deportation flights is part of the Pentagon's response to Trump's national emergency declaration on immigration on Monday.

In the past, US military aircraft have been used to relocate individuals from one country to another, like during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

This has been the first time in recent memory that US military aircraft were used to fly migrants out of the country, one US official said.

US military aircraft carried out two similar flights, each with about 80 migrants, to Guatemala on Friday.