Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered a 25% increase in tariffs on imports from the U.S. on Sunday, in response to the decision by his American counterpart, Donald Trump, to impose a 25% tariff on all Colombian products.

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Trump Orders 25% Tariffs on Colombia in Retaliation for Rejecting Two Deportation Flights

“He ordered (sic) the minister of foreign trade to raise import tariffs from the U.S. by 25%. The ministry must help direct our exports to all the world other than the U.S. Our exports must expand,” Petro stated on the social media platform X.

The diplomatic crisis erupted after Petro did not allow the entry of two planes carrying deported citizens from the U.S. on Sunday while they do not receive “dignified” treatment.

In response to Petro’s decision, Trump ordered a 25% tariff on all Colombian products and indicated that in a week “it will rise to 50%.”

He also announced visa restrictions for Petro’s government and his party, possible economic sanctions on the country, and “inspections” of Colombian citizens and goods arriving in the U.S.

In this regard, Petro invited “foreign Colombian communities to market our products” in an apparent attempt to compensate for the loss of market in the United States.

“The American products whose prices will rise within the national economy must be replaced by domestic production; the government will assist in this effort,” the president added.

Petro had recently questioned some of Trump’s decisions or policies and last Tuesday labeled as “dangerous” the comment made by the occupant of the White House about Latin America, a region about which the American leader said, “We do not need them.”

The differences between the United States and Colombia, which had agreed on the sending of these two flights with deportees, also extend to other Latin American countries that have disapproved of the procedures of what, according to Trump, will be “the largest mass expulsion operation of foreigners in the history of the United States.”

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