Trump Isn't Going to Like the Fallout From His Fight With Colombia

[Eugene]

Source: Slate

Trump Isn’t Going to Like the Fallout From His Fight With Colombia

The tariffs standoff might be the start of a very pricey mess.

By Nitish Pahwa
Jan 28, 2025 5:56 PM

For a few hours on Sunday, the United States and Colombia engaged in a full-blown economic tête-à-tête. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that “two repatriation flights” of to-be-deported U.S. immigrants “were not allowed to land in Colombia.” This spurred him to impose “urgent and decisive retaliatory measures” against the South American ally that included a 25 percent tariff on all imports, a travel ban on Colombian government officials “and all Allies and Supporters,” increased surveillance of all Colombian nationals and goods within U.S. borders, and sanctions on cross-country financial transactions.

The diverted planes were real, but there were some missing details. ...

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But beyond trade relations, there’s the important fact that Colombia has long been the United States’ closest Latin American ally: The country is an eager partner in taking down drug traffickers in the region, and it serves as a liberal democratic counterpart to its authoritarian neighbor Venezuela. As such, the Trump–Petro spat is already provoking worries within Latin America more broadly.

On Thursday, all Latin American heads of state will meet for an “emergency summit” to discuss “migration, the environment and regional unity,” per the Financial Times. Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia will obviously be key players here, but so will Panama, whose government has been roiled by Trump’s repeated threats to “take back” the Panama Canal. Even before Joe Biden had left office, Petro and the presidents of Chile, Bolivia, and Mexico had banded together to assure that the canal would remain under Panamanian control.

Sure, Trump could continue to aim tariffs at these countries, but it wouldn’t be as easy to go after an entire bloc. As the Colombian writer Cruz Bonlarron Martínez points out in a Hill op-ed, Latin America and the Caribbean account for “21.3 percent of U.S. foreign trade, equal to over $1 trillion. … If the region consciously decided to look towards other trading partners, the U.S. economy would feel the effects, and not just in coffee prices.” The region as a whole constitutes “the world’s leading net food exporter,” according to the United Nations.

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Read more: https://slate.com/business/2025/01/trump-colombia-tariffs-trade-war-inflation-expensive.html

Alternate link: https://news.yahoo.com/news/trump-isn-t-going-fallout-225621331.html

[Historic NY]

1. It already shook up the coffee market.

https://www.barchart.com/story/news/30669766/coffee-prices-settle-higher-on-global-supply-fears]

[SARose]

2. The US government turned its back on Latin America 50 years ago.

Central America, too. Iran Contra anyone?

I was living in South America during the Falklands War. Folks were furious the US sided with the Brits.

US oil companies pulled out of Venezuela shortly before Chavez took office. I lived in the closed white only oil camps in the interior. Had our own schools, commissary, sewers, water, country club, golf course - you name it. Venezuelans were not allowed unless they were maids, janitors or gardeners.

The resentment was incredible and Chavez exploited it in much the same way as Trump.

Personally, I am glad Colombia stood up to him.

“We are all Americans. We are all the New World.” Heard this so much I stopped saying I’m an American and started saying I’m from Texas! Yee haw!

[everyonematters]

3. We started worrying about the type of government the countries had instead of the welfare of the people.

We are still doing it, even though the cold war has been over for decades.

[SARose]

4. Well said!

Welfare of the people - I love it!