According to the White House, the customs dispute between the USA and Colombia over the deportation flights initiated by the new US President Donald Trump has been resolved. The Colombian government has agreed to all of Trump’s conditions, including the “unrestricted acceptance” of all Colombians sent back from the United States, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. Colombia’s head of state Gustavo Petro reproduced Leavitt’s message on the X platform without comment.
Since his inauguration last week, Trump’s administration has been pushing ahead with arrests and deportations of undocumented migrants. As part of this, the US government also put people without valid papers on planes to return them to their home countries.
First escalation – then agreement
However, Colombia’s head of state Gustavo Petro prevented two US military planes from landing with Colombians deported from the US on board at the weekend. Trump then announced tariffs of 25 percent on goods from Colombia and entry restrictions. Petro immediately followed suit and ordered his government to also increase tariffs on imports from the US by 25 percent.
The message from Washington said that Petro had agreed to allow US military aircraft carrying people flown from the United States to land “without restriction or delay”. Based on this agreement, the tariffs would not be imposed – unless Colombia does not comply with this agreement.
The visa sanctions imposed by the US State Department and the increased customs and border protection controls on all Colombian goods and nationals will remain in force until the first plane has landed in Colombia. “Today’s events make it clear to the world that America is respected again,” Leavitt continued.
