Hours after Trump’s announcement, the Colombian president said his country would impose a 50 percent tariff on U.S. goods entering Colombia.
President Donald Trump said on Jan. 26 that he is imposing retaliatory measures against Colombia after it turned away two military flights deporting illegal immigrants from the United States.
Trump suggested that Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s actions threaten U.S. national security, and he is directing his administration to impose emergency 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Colombia, which will rise to 50 percent in seven days.
Trump also wrote that he will issue a travel ban and immediate visa revocations on Colombian government officials “and all allies and supporters,” adding that visa sanctions on all party members, supporters, and family members of Colombian government officials will also be applied.
Other penalties announced by Trump include enhanced U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspections of Colombian nationals and cargo on “national security grounds,” along with various other banking and financial sanctions.
“These measures are just the beginning,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “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!”
As of Jan. 26, no official executive order had been issued on tariffs, travel bans, or visa revocations.
Petro, a former member of the socialist 19th of April guerrilla movement, then warned, “Do not demand that I accept deportees from the US, handcuffed and on military aircraft.”
The exchange between Petro and Trump on tariffs happened hours after the Colombian president confirmed earlier on Jan. 26 that he had blocked military flights from the United States that were carrying deported Colombian nationals.
The United States, he said, must first set up a protocol “for the dignified treatment of migrants” before it receives them.
“A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves,” he wrote on social media platform X. “That’s why I turned back the US military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants.”
Hours after Trump’s announcement, Petro wrote that his country would impose a 50 percent tariff on U.S. goods entering Colombia.
“Let our people plant corn that was discovered in Colombia and feed the world,” he said on X in a lengthy post.
He added separately that Colombia “never refused to accept migrants” and has tried to stop migration, and he blamed U.S. sanctions against its neighbor Venezuela.
Trump, also critical of Petro’s comments, confirmed that two repatriation flights coming from the United States with illegal immigrants with criminal records were not allowed to land in the Latin American country.
“This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people,” he wrote. “Petro’s denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States.”
By Jacob Burg and Jack Phillips
