Colombia has stepped back from the edge of a devastating trade war with the United States, reaching a deal to allow deported migrants returning on military flights following a flurry of warnings from President Donald Trump, including high tariffs.
Colombia announced Sunday evening that it has accepted 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 denied entry.
“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 noted that US deportation flights have commenced, and the Colombian presidential jet was being readied to help with citizen repatriation.
The White House also dropped its threat to impose tariffs unless Colombia “fails to honor this agreement,” adding that other penalties, such as visa sanctions and customs inspections of Colombian nationals and cargo ships, will remain in effect until the first plane carrying Colombian deportees is successfully returned.
“Today’s events demonstrate to the world that America is once again respected. “President Trump will continue to fiercely defend our country’s sovereignty, and he expects all other nations to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States,” the White House said in a statement.
The announcement caps a stormy weekend that threatened to boost coffee costs for American consumers and affect hundreds of thousands of Colombian workers. It is also the first time Trump has taken significant action against another country for his immigration policies since taking office last week.
The conflict started early Sunday over US military aircraft bringing deportees to Colombia. Documents examined by AWN suggest Colombia had previously approved the flights, however Colombian President Gustavo Petro denied doing so – and US authorities claim the clearance was canceled after the planes were on their way.
Petro prevented the planes from landing, accusing the US of treating Colombian migrants as criminals, prompting Trump to impose steep tariffs on all Colombian imports, a travel ban for Colombian citizens, the revocation of visas for Colombian officials in the United States, and the suspension of visa processing for both immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
The visa restrictions are especially unusual since they are often designated for rivals or those who have perpetrated human rights violations, despite the fact that Colombia is a significant non-NATO ally of the United States and has been its closest partner in South America for decades.
In reaction, Petro threatened punitive tariffs against the United States and blasted Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on social media, writing: “You will never see me burning a US flag or carrying out a raid to return handcuffed illegal immigrants to the US.”
By Sunday evening, the White House declared that the two countries had struck a deal.
The standoff also highlights the potential hurdles that other nations face as they prepare for Trump’s immigration crackdown, with the next president already threatening tariffs on Canada and Mexico over border concerns. The perceived early triumph over Colombia appears to have encouraged some in the White House.
“You can’t go out there and publicly defy us that way,” a Trump administration insider told AWN. “We’re going to make sure the world knows they can’t get away with being nonserious and deceptive.”
The consequences of a trade war
Though a trade war may have been avoided for the time being, the tit-for-tat threats underscored the potentially costly consequences.
Colombia is not a large commercial partner with the United States, but its main exports include minerals, metals, and coffee. Coffee costs have already risen over the last year, and tariffs might make them much more expensive for American consumers.
Even if Trump backs down on his threats against Colombia, he has pledged to impose blanket tariffs on other nations as early as this week if they do not shift production to the United States. taxes may significantly raise prices for Americans since importers pay the taxes and frequently pass on the higher costs to consumers.
Meanwhile, economic and international policy professionals encouraged Colombia to avoid a diplomatic conflict with the United States. The Colombian Council on International Relations (CORI), a think tank comprising former foreign ministers and experts, cautioned that trade retribution would only damage Colombia and urged the government to maintain its ties with Washington.
Maria Claudia Lacouture, president of the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce, echoed her comments in a post on X, saying that US taxes on Colombian imports would have an immediate and severe impact.
“In coffee alone, about 500,000 households rely on this industry. Thousands of single moms will lose their income from flower growing. And we may keep adding industries that will be affected,” she explained.
Brazil condemns ‘degrading’ airplane conditions.
The United States began employing military planes to return recent border crossers to their countries of origin last week, with flights planned to continue daily – partly as a message to other countries, according to White House border czar Tom Homan on Sunday.
The Defense Department “has previously assisted administrations, but not at this level.” So it’s a force multiplier that’s sending a powerful signal to the rest of the globe. “Our borders are closed,” Homan told ABC News.
The United States is also requesting assistance from Mexico in repatriating its citizens through land ports of entry along the US-Mexico border, despite the fact that Mexico seemed to turn back a military airplane bound for the country last week.
Brazil joined Colombia on Sunday in slamming the Trump administration’s handling of returning migrants on deportation flights, calling the treatment of Brazilian nationals who landed in the country Friday “degrading.”
Brazilian officials reported finding 88 shackled deportees aboard a US jet that had landed in the wrong place. Brazilian officials refused to let the plane to continue owing to “the use of handcuffs and chains, the poor condition of the aircraft, with a faulty air conditioning system, among other problems,” and the migrants were transferred to their final destination via a Brazilian Air Force flight.
