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Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday had lashed out at the Trump administration for stripping immigrants of their dignity by sending them home handcuffed in deportation planes. File photo

Let up in tariff war as Colombia accepts US flights, claims White House

Following a spat with Donald Trump over sending migrants home in handcuffs, the Colombian government had raised import tariffs from the US by 25%


Following an imposition of tariffs and travel curbs by the Donald Trump administration on Colombia, and retaliatory hike in taxes by the latter over a showdown on deportation of illegal immigrants, the White House has claimed that Columbia is now accepting flights from America.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a late Sunday statement that the “Government of Colombia has agreed to all of President Trump's terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on US military aircraft, without limitation or delay.”

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Tariff orders on hold

Leavitt said the tariff orders on Colombia by the Trump government – which would have put in place 25 per cent tariffs on all Colombian incoming goods, and then raised to 50 per cent in one week – will be “held in reserve, and not signed."

But Leavitt said Trump would maintain visa restrictions on Colombian officials and enhanced customs inspections of goods from the country, “until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.”

The Colombian government is yet to respond to the White House claims.

Colombia rejects two migrant flights

Earlier on Sunday (January 26) Colombian President Gustavo Petro responded to US President Trump’s measures of imposing tariffs, visa restrictions and sanctions by ordering a 25 per cent hike in import tariffs on US goods.

The tariffs fight follows Petro's decision to reject two US military flights carrying migrants to Colombia. Trump, in a social media post, said the rejection “jeopardized” national security in the US.

Petro in a post on X said he had ordered Colombia's “foreign trade minister to raise import tariffs from the US by 25 per cent.”

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Just the beginning: Trump

This came in response to Trump’s announcement on Sunday that he was ordering tariffs, visa restrictions and other retaliatory measures to be taken against Colombia after its government rejected two US military flights carrying migrants.

Trump said the measures were necessary because the decision of Colombian President Gustavo Petro “jeopardized” national security in the US.

“These measures are just the beginning,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “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 said.

Why Petro opposed deportation flights?

Earlier on Sunday, Petro had lashed out at the Trump administration for stripping immigrants of their dignity by sending them home handcuffed in deportation planes.

Petro had said that his government would not accept these flights until the Trump administration creates a protocol that treats them with “dignity.” Petro made the announcement in two X posts, one of which included a news video of migrants reportedly deported to Brazil walking on a tarmac with restraints on their hands and feet.

‘A migrant is not a criminal’

“A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves,” Petro said. “That is why I returned the US military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants... In civilian planes, without being treated like criminals, we will receive our fellow citizens," he said.

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Flagrant disregard of human rights: Brazil

Brazil too has expressed outrage over the undignified manner in which the immigrants were deported and has demanded an explanation from the Trump government.

Calling it a “flagrant disregard” of human rights, Brazil’s Justice Ministry in a statement said one of the deportation planes that landed in Manaus, had 88 Brazilians who were in handcuffs.

Brazil’s Foreign Ministry has said that it will ask “explanations from the US government about the degrading treatment of passengers,” on the flight on Friday night.

'They wouldn't let us go to the bathroom'

Reports quoting one of the deported immigrants said the detainees had their hands and legs tied throughout the flight and weren’t even given water.

“On the plane, they didn’t give us water, we were tied hands and feet, they wouldn’t even let us go to the bathroom (sic),” Edgar Da Silva, a 31-year-old computer technician, who spent seven months in detention before being deported, told AFP.

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Deportation from US

Colombia accepted 475 deportation flights from the United States from 2020 to 2024, fifth behind Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador, according to Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks flight data. It accepted 124 deportation flights in 2024.

Last year, Colombia and other countries began accepting US-funded deportation flights from Panama.

The US government didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press regarding aircraft and protocols used in deportations to Colombia.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement said Petro “cancelled his authorisation” for the flights when the aircraft were in the air.


What’s next?

No official order had been issued as of Sunday afternoon that would allow for the implementation of the measures Trump announced.

“This is a clear message we are sending that countries have an obligation to accept repatriation flights," a senior administration official told the AP.

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Colombians emerged in recent years as a major presence on the US border with Mexico, aided in part by a visa regime that allows them to easily fly to Mexico and avoid trekking though the treacherous Darien Gap. They ranked fourth with 127,604 arrests for illegal crossings during a 12-month period through September, behind Mexicans, Guatemalans and Venezuelans.

Colombia sends flight

Mexico hasn't imposed visa restrictions on Colombians, as they have on Venezuelans, Ecuadoreans and Peruvians.

The government of Petro, a former leftist guerrilla, in a statement later announced that the South American country's presidential aircraft had been made available to facilitate the return of migrants who were to arrive hours earlier on the US military airplanes and guarantee them “dignified conditions." As part of a flurry of actions to make good on Trump's campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration, his government is using active-duty military to help secure the border and carry out deportations.


Two US Air Force C-17 cargo planes carrying migrants removed from the US touched down early Friday in Guatemala. That same day, Honduras received two deportation flights carrying a total of 193 people.

Trump’s retaliatory measures

In announcing what he called “urgent and decisive retaliatory measures,” Trump explained that he ordered “25 per cent tariffs on all goods coming into the United States,” which would be raised to 50 per cent in one week. He said he also ordered “A Travel Ban and immediate Visa Revocations” on Colombian government officials, allies and supporters.

“All Party Members, Family Members, and Supporters of the Colombian Government,” Trump wrote will be subject to “Visa Sanctions.” He did not say to which party he was referring to or provide any additional details on the visa and travel restrictions.

Trump added that all Colombians will face enhanced customs inspections.

Trump's actions would seem to undercut his goal to reduce his country's trade deficit. Unlike Mexico or China, Colombia is one of the few countries with a trade deficit with the US, of around $1.4 billion, according to US trade data.


Colombia is the US' fourth-largest overseas supplier of crude oil, shipping about 209,000 barrels of oil per day last year, although booming domestic production has reduced the US' dependence on foreign oil. Other imports include coal, coffee and gold.

Colombia is also the US' largest supplier of fresh cut flowers, and with Valentine's Day just weeks away, the price of saying “I love you” could be impacted.


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