Colombia backs down on deportation flights after Trump’s tariff threats
Colombia has backed down from a looming trade war with the United States hours after US President Donald Trump threatened Bogota with tariffs and visa restrictions for turning away US military aircraft carrying deported migrants.
The climbdown late on Sunday came after Colombian President Gustavo Petro had announced retaliatory tariffs on US imports and insisted he would not accept migrants who were not treated with “dignity and respect”.
In a late-night news conference, Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said officials had “overcome the impasse” and would accept citizens deported from the US.
A White House statement said Colombia had agreed to all of Trump’s terms, including “unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on US military aircraft, without limitation or delay”.
“Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again,” the White House said.
‘You will never rule us’
Washington and Bogota had been poised for a damaging trade war after Trump announced he would hit Colombian imports with a 25 percent “emergency” tariff, rising to a 50 percent tariff from next week, in response to Petro’s refusal to accept the deportation flights.
Trump also said he would 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 on his social media network Truth Social.
Trump later posted an image appearing to show himself wearing a pinstripe suit and a fedora while standing in front of a sign reading “FAFO”, an acronym for “f*** around and find out”.
Petro swiftly responded to Trump’s announcement by promising to impose retaliatory tariffs of up to 50 percent.
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 Bolivar, opposes us.”
Petro had said earlier 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, which included news footage showing deportees in Brazil at an airport with their hands and feet restrained.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump’s “border czar” expressed confidence that countries reluctant to take back their 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 legislators, 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.
‘Populist prejudices’
In Colombia, Petro’s handling of the spat also drew fire from critics.
Ivan 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.
“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,” Duque said in a post on X.
Colombia, which counts the US as its biggest trade partner, is one of a minority of nations with a trade deficit with the US.
