Colombia’s newly sworn-in President Abelardo de la Espriella has called on his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to temporarily suspend tariffs targeting the South American nation as it recovers from a devastating earthquake.
US tariffs on Colombian products increased from 10 percent to 12.5 percent in late July, with a few exceptions such as coffee and oil. The heightened tariffs officially took effect on July 24, replacing an expiring global duty introduced by Trump earlier this year.
“I asked him to consider temporarily suspending the high tariffs that are affecting Colombian products, in order to provide some relief to our business owners, who are facing very difficult times due to the effects of the earthquake,” De la Espriella posted on X.
De la Espriella spoke with Trump for approximately 10 minutes, during which the US president expressed his condolences over the loss of life from Monday’s powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake.
“The conversation was very friendly and cordial,” the Colombian leader remarked. “I told him that we have a huge challenge ahead: rebuilding Colombia amid the extremely difficult and apocalyptic economic situation that I inherited.”
The severe tremor devastated the western Colombian cities of Cali and Pereira, resulting in nearly 300 deaths and destroying almost 13,000 homes.
Trump publicly endorsed the right-wing De la Espriella, a millionaire lawyer-turned-politician, during his presidential campaign. Since taking office and succeeding leftist predecessor Gustavo Petro, De la Espriella has joined the “Shield of the Americas”—an anti-cartel alliance led by Trump comprising pro-US governments across Latin America, including Argentina, Ecuador, and El Salvador.
Member states within the alliance exchange information and coordinate judicial and security forces to combat transnational criminal activity. Additionally, De la Espriella intends to establish a military alliance with the United States and Israel to strengthen his campaign against guerrilla forces.
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