The United States and Colombia have announced tit-for-tat tariffs amid a spat over Bogota’s refusal to accept the return of migrants being deported under United States President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Trump on Sunday slapped tariffs and visa restrictions on Latin America’s third-most populous country after Colombian President Gustavo Petro turned away two US military aircraft carrying deportees.
The US will immediately impose a 25 percent “emergency” tariff on all Colombian imports, which will be raised to 50 percent in a week, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
Petro swiftly announced retaliatory tariffs of up to 50 percent following Trump’s statement.
Trump said he would also impose a “travel ban and immediate visa revocations” and “visa sanctions” on government officials, as well as their family members and supporters, and enhance border inspections of all Colombian nationals and cargo.
“These measures are just the beginning. 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!” Trump said.
Trump later posted an image appearing to show the president wearing a pinstripe suit and a fedora while standing in front of a sign reading “FAFO”, an acronym for “f*** around and find out”.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the Trump administration had made it clear the US would “no longer be lied to nor taken advantage of”.
“It is the responsibility of each nation to take back their citizens who are illegally present in the United States in a serious and expeditious manner,” Rubio said in a statement posted on X.
Rubio said in a later statement that he had ordered the suspension of visa issuances at the US Embassy in Bogota.
In a lengthy diatribe on X, Petro, a former member of the leftist M-19 armed rebel movement, said he did not like travelling to the US as it is “a bit boring”, though he acknowledged his appreciation for Walt Whitman, Paul Simon and Noam Chomsky.
“My land is made up of goldsmiths who worked in the time of the Egyptian pharaohs and of the first artists in the world in Chiribiquete,” Petro said.
“You will never rule us. The warrior who rode our lands, shouting freedom, who is called Bolívar, opposes us.”
Petro announced earlier that he had refused the deportation flights to send a message that the US “cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals”.
“I cannot allow migrants to remain in a country that does not want them; but if that country sends them back, it must be with dignity and respect for them and for our country,” he said in a post on X that included news footage showing deportees in Brazil at an airport with their hands and feet restrained.
“We will receive our fellow citizens on civilian planes, without treating them like criminals. Colombia is respected.”
Earlier on Sunday, Trump’s “border czar” expressed confidence that countries reluctant to take back its citizens would relent under US pressure.
“El Salvador didn’t want to take MS-13 members back. Took President Trump 48 hours to make that happen,” Tom Homan told ABC News.
“President Trump’s going to put America first, and if it doesn’t, then we’ll place ‘em in a third safe country.”
Trump’s actions drew condemnation from several Democratic lawmakers, with New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warning that the tariffs would lead to higher prices for US consumers.
“Trump is all about making inflation WORSE for working class Americans, not better. He’s lining the pockets of himself and the billionaire class,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a post on X.
In Colombia, Petro’s handling of the spat drew fire from domestic critics.
Iván Duque, who served as Colombia’s president from 2018 to 2022 under the banner of the right-leaning Democratic Centre party, said his rival had committed an act of “tremendous irresponsibility” by challenging US sovereignty without attempting dialogue.
“These populist bravados by the Petro government in the face of a US national security decision are unleashing sanctions whose cost for the country and its citizens is enormous,” Duque said in a post on X.
“It is urgent that the Petro government put the country above its populist prejudices and anti-US rhetoric and quickly establish protocols for receiving deported Colombians, and avoid a situation that could structurally affect our economy and our citizens.”
Colombia, which counts the US as its biggest trade partner, is one of a minority of nations with a trade deficit with the US.
US exports to Colombia in 2022 were worth $28.7bn, compared with imports of $24.8bn, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Top US imports from Colombia include crude oil, coffee, cut flowers and gold, while Colombia imports large amounts of US gasoline, corn and soybeans.
Trump’s immigration crackdown has elevated tensions with governments across Latin America, the source of the lion’s share of the estimated 11-14 million undocumented migrants in the US.
Brazil on Saturday accused the Trump administration of subjecting migrants to “degrading treatment” after deportees were reportedly handcuffed during a commercial flight to return unauthorised migrants back to the Latin American country.
As part of a burst of activity to follow through on Trump’s campaign pledge to crack down on undocumented migration, his administration has begun using military aircraft to support deportation flights arranged by the US Department of Homeland Security.
On Friday, two Air Force C-17 cargo planes carrying about 160 deportees touched down in Guatemala, making it one of the first countries known to accept the flights.
NBC News on Friday reported that Mexico had denied permission to a military plane carrying deportees.
The report, which cited three unnamed sources, said it was unclear why Mexico had refused the flight.
Following the publication of the report, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that Mexico had accepted “a record” of four deportation flights in a single day.
