Colombia has stepped back from the brink of a devastating trade war with the United States, accepting an agreement to accept deported migrants being returned on military planes after a flurry of threats from President Donald Trump that included steep tariffs.
Colombia said Sunday evening it had agreed to “all of President Trump’s terms,” including the “unrestricted acceptance” of immigrants who entered the US illegally after two US military planes carrying deportees were blocked from entering the country.
“We will continue to receive Colombians and Colombian women who return as deportees, guaranteeing them decent conditions as citizens subject to rights,” Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said in a televised statement. He added that US deportation flights had resumed, and the Colombian presidential plane was being prepared to assist in repatriating citizens.
The White House was also forced to back down from its threat to raise tariffs unless Colombia “fails to honor this agreement,” as it maintained that other penalties, such as visa sanctions and customs inspection of Colombian nationals and cargo ships, would be kept in force until the first planeload of Colombian deportees was successfully returned home.
Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again. President Trump will continue to protect our nation’s sovereignty fiercely, and he expects all other countries of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States,” the White House said in a statement.
The decision ended an agitated weekend that could have triggered the rising costs of coffee beans for US consumers and the losses affecting hundreds of thousands of Colombian workers. Additionally, this marks the first serious action Trump has taken against another nation concerning his administration’s immigration law since assuming duty last week.
The feud began early Sunday over the US military flights carrying deportees to Colombia. Documents reviewed by CNN show Colombia had previously approved the flights. However, Colombian President Gustavo Petro disputed that he had authorized them, and US officials claimed that the authorization had been revoked once the planes were en route.
Petro blocked the planes from landing, accusing the US of treating Colombian migrants like criminals – prompting Trump to order steep tariffs on all Colombian imports, a travel ban for Colombian citizens, the revoking of visas for Colombian officials in the US, and suspending visa processing for both immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
This is exceptional, however, as visa restrictions are generally kept for enemies or human rights offenders—though Colombia is one of the largest non-NATO allies of the United States and has been the United States’ closest ally in South America for a number of years.
