Panama's Leader Takes Up Feud With Trump Over Canal Control

Source: Bloomberg

December 22, 2024 at 4:53 PM EST
Updated on December 23, 2024 at 3:30 AM EST


Panama’s president rebuffed Donald Trump’s threat to reimpose US control over the Panama Canal, saying its shipping tolls aren’t inflated and that sovereignty over the waterway isn’t negotiable. “Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent zones is part of Panama, and it will continue to be,” President José Raúl Mulino said Sunday in a video statement on X, the social platform.

Mulino’s defense of Panamanian control over the key commercial waterway shows how Trump is already exerting global influence after he brought control over the canal into play over the weekend, decrying “ridiculous” transit fees for US vessels and alleged Chinese encroachment.

Trump’s diplomatic hardball — just less than a month before his inauguration — represents a new front in his attempt to ratchet up pressure on trading partners. After Mulino’s retort about continued Panamanian control, Trump said, “We’ll see about that!” on his Truth Social platform.

China doesn’t control the canal, though a Chinese company — a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. — has two of the five ports adjacent to the canal, one on each side. Under Panama’s constitution, the canal is managed by the Panama Canal Authority, with some of the tolls going into the national treasury. The authority said last week that it had deposited almost $2.5 billion in the last fiscal year.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-22/panama-s-leader-takes-up-feud-with-trump-over-canal-s-control