Trump Slaps Colombia With ‘Emergency Tariffs’ for Refusing Migrant Flights

Consumers in the United States are about to pay the price for Donald Trump seeking revenge. The president announced “emergency tariffs” of 25 percent on all Colombian goods to the United States, along with other “retaliatory measures,” because President Gustavo Petro refused to accept two U.S. military flights of deported Colombian migrants. According to Trump, the tariffs will escalate to 50 percent in one week.

“I was just informed that two repatriation flights from the United States, with a large number of Illegal Criminals, were not allowed to land in Colombia,” Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social. “This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people. Petro’s denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States, so I have directed my Administration to immediately take the following urgent and decisive retaliatory measures.”

Trump then listed the tariffs alongside a travel ban and visa revocations for Colombian officials and supporters, visa sanctions for government officials and supporters, increased Customs and Border Patrol inspections for all Colombian nationals and cargo as well as IEEPA treasury, banking and financial sanctions.

Petro wrote about his decision to deny the flights on X, saying, “a migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves. That is why I returned the U.S. military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants.”

“I cannot allow migrants to remain in a country that does not want them; but if that country sends them back, it must be with dignity and respect for them and for our country,” Petro continued. “We will receive our fellow citizens on civilian planes, without treating them like criminals.”

After the flights were denied permission to land, they were rerouted to the U.S., a defense official told Politico. The Trump administration was surprised by the rejection because Colombian authorities had approved both flights before takeoff, according to documents a Trump official shared with CNN. The U.S. and Colombian governments are continuing talks. It is highly unusual for the American government to use military planes to deport migrants rather than chartered civilian flights.

“You can’t go out there and publicly defy us in that way,” the Trump official told CNN. “We’re going to make sure the world knows they can’t get away with being nonserious and deceptive.”

Trump and Petro’s actions represent an “escalation on both sides,” Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told The New York Times.

“But equally, for Trump to threaten Colombia this way is pretty bold itself,” Freeman said. “That’s because Colombia remains historically the longest standing, the deepest, strategic ally in the region.”

Colombia is the second nation that has reportedly refused to accept deported migrants from the U.S. According to NBC News, Mexico refused a Trump administration request to allow a military plane carrying deportees to land there on Thursday. Reuters confirmed the story with a Mexican official and U.S. official.

But the administration denied the reports. “The fake news is already lying about our successful partnership with Mexico helping to make our region safe again,” State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce wrote on X.

Trump’s knee-jerk decision will have consequences for Americans in the form of increased prices on coffee and other goods imported from Colombia. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Colombian coffee accounted for 27 percent of coffee imports to the U.S. in 2023. The U.S. imported $24.8 billion in goods from Colombia in 2022.

This breaking news story has been updated.