The United States government, which had threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Colombian goods and services after the country had refused to allow American military planes delivering Colombian citizens deported from the US to land last week, has reversed course after President Gustavo Petro agreed on Sunday to accept the deportees, CNN reported.
Petro initially barred two US military deportation flights from landing in Colombia, saying he would only accept repatriated citizens on “civilian planes, without treating them like criminals.”
Petro agreed to “all of President Trump’s terms” on Sunday, including the “unrestricted acceptance” of immigrants who have entered the US illegally.
“We will continue to receive Colombian men and women who are returned as deportees, guaranteeing them decent conditions as citizens subject to rights,” Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said in a televised statement cited by CNN.
The White House not only backed down on its threats to impose tariffs on Columbia, but also other penalties the US had threatened to impose on the nation. Visa sanctions and customs inspections of Colombian nationals and cargo ships that are already in place will stay in place until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully repatriated.
“Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again,” the White House said in a statement yesterday. “President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation’s sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States.”