Colombia agrees to accept deported migrants after Donald Trump’s tariffs threats

Colombia agreed to accept deported migrants after US President Donald Trump threats said on Sunday he will impose tariffs and sanctions among other retaliatory measures. According to the Assoctaed Press, Colombia had refused to accept two US military aircraft with migrants being deported.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that Petro's refusal to accept the flights jeopardized US national security.

The retaliatory measures include imposing 25% tariffs on all Colombian goods coming into the US, which will go up to 50% in one week; a travel ban and visa revocations on Colombian government officials; and emergency treasury, banking and financial sanctions.

Trump said he would also direct enhanced border inspections of Colombian nationals and cargo.

"These measures are just the beginning," he wrote. "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!," he added.

He later posted a picture of himself on Truth Social in a pinstripe suit and a fedora in front of a sign reading FAFO, a common slang acronym for "F**k Around and Find Out".

America will "no longer be lied to nor taken advantage of," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement, adding that Petro had authorized these flights but then canceled his authorization when the planes were in the air.

Columbia responds

Colombia, the third largest US trading partner in Latin America, swiftlyresponded, threatening a 50% tariff on US goods. The country's leftist president, Gustavo Petro, later posted on X that he directed his trade minister to increase tariffs on US imports by 25%.

Sweeping Crackdown

Trump declared illegal immigration a national emergency and imposed a sweeping crackdown since taking office last Monday. He directed the US military to help with border security, issued a broad ban on asylum and took steps to restrict citizenship for children born on US soil.

Colombia's Petro condemned the practice on Sunday, suggesting it treated migrants like criminals. In a post on social media platform X, Petro said Colombia would welcome home deported migrants on civilian planes.

"The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals," Petro wrote.

Petro said even though there were 15,660 Americans without legal immigration status in Colombia, he would never carry out a raid to return handcuffed Americans to the U.S.

"We are the opposite of the Nazis," he wrote.

Mexico refuses deportation request

Mexico also refused a request last week to let a US military aircraft land with migrants.

Trump did not take similar action against Mexico, the largest US trading partner, but has said he was thinking about imposing 25% duties on imports from Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1 to force further action against illegal immigrants and fentanyl flowing into the US.

The US is Colombia's largest trading partner, largely due to a 2006 free trade agreement, with $33.8 billion worth of two-way trade in 2023 and a $1.6 billion US trade surplus, according to US Census Bureau data.

The biggest US imports from Colombia that year were crude oil, gold, coffee, and cut roses. Top US exports to Colombia were gasoline and other petroleum products, commercial aircraft, corn, crude oil and soybeans.

"Petro's finding out that tweets have consequences. He's not (facing) a US counterpart that looks at Colombia through a strategic lens, as a key ally, but as a country to make an example of," said Sergio Guzman, director of consultancy Colombia Risk Analysis. Guzman added that financial sanctions could be economically crippling.

Alejo Czerwonko, chief investment officer for emerging markets Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management, said Colombia relied on access to the US market for about a third of its exports, or about 4% of its GDP.

"In addition, the Petro-Trump relationship has started off on the wrong foot, which could signal additional challenges ahead," Czerwonko told Reuters.

The use of US military aircraft to carry out deportation flights is part of the Pentagon's response to Trump's national emergency declaration on immigration on Monday.

In the past, US military aircraft have been used to relocate individuals from one country to another, like during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

"This has been the first time in recent memory that US military aircraft were used to fly migrants out of the country," one US official said.

US military aircraft carried out two similar flights, each with about 80 migrants, to Guatemala on Friday.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington and David Ljunggren in Ottawa: Additional reporting by Oliver Griffin in Bogota;Editing by Ross Colvin, Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)