Trump Holds off on Imposing Tariffs on Colombia After Deal Reached on Deportation Flights
Joey Garrison, USA Today, January 27, 2025
President Donald Trump is holding off imposing tariffs and sanctions he threatened on Colombia after Colombian President Gustavo Petro agreed to the “unrestricted acceptance” of U.S. military flights deporting Colombian migrants, the White House said.
The agreement came after a feud Sunday between the U.S. and Colombia over Trump’s mass deportations of migrants that risked becoming a trade war as both sides promised new tariffs on goods coming from the other country.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Colombia agreed to “all of President Trump’s terms,” including accepting Colombian migrants returned from the United States on U.S. military aircraft.
“Based on this agreement, the fully drafted IEEPA tariffs and sanctions will be held in reserve, and not signed, unless Colombia fails to honor this agreement,” Leavitt said in a statement late Sunday.
The deportation showdown started Sunday morning after Petro accused the Trump administration of treating Colombian migrants “like criminals,” pointing to images of handcuffed detainees. He said his country wouldn’t accept deportation flights from the U.S. unless migrants are “treated with the dignity that a human being deserves.”
After learning of two repatriation flights that weren’t allowed to land in Colombia, Trump said he would immediately place 25% tariffs on all goods coming into the U.S. from the South American country and raise it to 50% after one week.
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Trump also announced the immediate revocation of visas and a travel ban to the U.S. for Colombian government officials and their allies and supporters, along with heightened customs and border protection inspections of all Colombian nationals and cargo on national security grounds.
Leavitt said the visa restrictions and enhanced inspections will remain in effect until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is returned to Colombia.
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