President Donald Trump ordered his administration to impose tariffs and sanctions on Colombia for refusing to allow two military planes carrying deported migrants to land, punishing a US security partner for stepping out of line with his immigration goals.
In a move that rattled global markets, Trump said in a social media post on Sunday that he would put an emergency 25% tariff on all Colombian goods coming into the US, which will be raised to 50% in a week. He also imposed travel restrictions on a range of government officials and said “Treasury, Banking and Financial Sanctions” under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act would be “fully imposed.”
“These measures are just the beginning,” Trump said. “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!”
It was unclear when the administration would issue formal orders specifying when the tariffs and sanctions would take effect, and what they would entail. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Sunday that he ordered a suspension of visa issuance at the US Embassy in Bogota and authorized other travel restrictions on those responsible for interfering with the flights.
Trump’s abrupt announcement rattled global markets Monday after investors were lulled into a false sense of security when he refrained last week from immediately imposing tariffs on China and other major trading partners. US equity futures slid in Asia after Wall Street had its best start to a US presidential term since the 1980s, while the greenback rose against most of its major peers, rebounding from its worst week in more than a year. The Mexican peso and South African rand led losses among emerging-market currencies.
Oil fell in early trade on Monday, with Brent dropping below $78 a barrel, as tariffs and sanctions on Colombia undermined sentiment and served as a reminder of larger trade risks ahead. Colombia is the US’s fourth-biggest source of overseas oil, topping Brazil, according to the Energy Information Administration. Other major exports include gold, coffee and flowers — a good that typically sees brisk trade around Valentine’s Day.
Trump’s action upended decades of warm relations between the two countries and may be devastating to the Andean nation’s fragile economy. Ties between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro had been widely expected to be strained due to their divergent political views, though the deterioration was swifter and more damaging than almost anyone anticipated.
More broadly, Trump’s move shows how he sees tariffs as an economic weapon to be deployed against governments that may challenge his geopolitical goals. It sends a powerful message to the world, that not even old political allies are safe if they do not cooperate with him. The White House has said that it has arrested 538 illegal immigrants and had begun using military aircrafts to remove them within the administration’s first 100 hours.
Petro responded less than three hours after Trump’s post, saying he had ordered retaliatory tariffs of 25% on US imports. The Colombian government will help with the process of replacing more expensive US imports with domestic production, he said in a post on X, without elaborating.
In a statement on Sunday, Colombia said it would offer the presidential plane to ferry migrants back. And Petro’s recently appointed Foreign Affairs Minister, Laura Sarabia, said that Colombia was open to talks with the US.
The actions were taken in response to two flights carrying a total of 160 people, part of a group of 350 Colombians scheduled for deportation, a person familiar with the situation said. Petro initially welcomed the flights but changed his mind when it became clear the US was sending the migrants on military planes. Mexico canceled a flight of deportees before it took off, saying in advance that it would not allow a military plane to land in the country, the person said.
Latin American officials, including Petro, have also said they were dismayed by the migrants arriving in leg shackles and handcuffs. The US and El Salvador are working on an asylum agreement that would allow US officials to deport non-Salvadoran migrants to the Central American nation.
Colombian-US Trade
Trump also called for a travel ban and immediate visa revocations on Colombian government officials “and all Allies and Supporters” as well as visa sanctions on party members, family members and supporters of Petro’s government. And he said that he would enhance customs inspections of all Colombian nationals and cargo on national security grounds.
The tariffs would require an executive order to take effect, according to Daniel Ujczo, a senior counsel in the international trade practice group at law firm Thompson Hine LLP in Columbus, Ohio. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act requires the declaration of a national emergency, which Trump did last week to address illegal immigration at the southern border, Ujczo said.
“As long as the tariffs are tied to the national emergency on the southern border declaration, they are good to go,” he said. “Again, lawyers may quibble that they need to ‘consult with Congress,’ but I think they are covered by last week’s EO.”
In comparison with some of the other countries Trump has targeted with his tariff threats, the fight with Colombia has relatively low economic consequences. Trade in goods between the US and Colombia was worth $33.5 billion in the first 11 months of 2024, according to US trade data. The US had a billion-dollar trade surplus with Colombia in that time.
Between January and November 2024, Colombian exports to the US reached $13 billion, a near 8% increase compared with the same period in 2023 and about a third of the nation’s total overseas sales. Colombians in the US also generate strong cultural ties and remittance flows.
The total trade, however, represents less than half the $69.1 billion in trade between the US and Mexico in November 2024 alone. The stakes are much higher for Trump — and the US and Mexican economies — if he proceeds with similar tariffs on Mexican goods over its compliance with his border policies as soon as soon as Saturday, a move he’s considering.
Trump delivered a fresh threat upon taking office to place tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China on Feb. 1, which he said would balance trade deals and collect revenue to offset his domestic legislative proposals. While on the campaign trail, he considered creating a universal baseline tariff as a way to incentivize manufacturing and business in the US.
Colombia has historically been one of Washington’s biggest diplomatic allies in Latin America and a major recipient of US aid and military assistance. Yet as one of the region’s leading leftist leaders, Petro was already on the wrong side of Trump. Petro has courted China and slammed Israel over the death toll among Palestinians in its war with Hamas.
“Petro’s response to Trump was foolish and it was a fight he won’t win,” Sergio Guzmán, an analyst at Colombia Risk Analysis said. “Social media posts have consequences, and it will be a difficult moment for Colombia as it will have real repercussions on us.”
--With assistance from Joe Carroll, Walter Brandimarte, Oscar Medina, Matthew Burgess and Shawn Donnan.
(Updates with more details in fourth paragraph. An earlier version corrected the spelling of South Africa’s currency.)
