Colombia President Abelardo de la Espriella requested that US counterpart Donald Trump temporarily suspend custom tariffs on Colombian exports following a catastrophic earthquake.
Writing on social media platform X on Saturday, de la Espriella said he asked Trump to consider a temporary waiver on high custom tariffs affecting Colombian products to relieve domestic business owners who are going through a very difficult period due to the disaster.
The request followed a ten-minute telephone conversation between the two leaders. De la Espriella noted that Trump expressed his condolences for the deaths caused by the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck Colombia on Monday, describing the discussion as very friendly and cordial.
De la Espriella said he told the US president that Colombia faces a huge challenge to rebuild the country amid an extremely difficult and apocalyptic economic situation inherited from the previous administration.
Earthquake Impact and Tariff Increases
Monday's earthquake caused severe destruction across cities in western Colombia, hitting Cali and Pereira particularly hard. The disaster left nearly 300 people dead, at least 320 missing, and almost 4,000 injured, while approximately 13,000 buildings were partially or completely destroyed.
Cali, the regional capital of Valle del Cauca, and Pereira, located in the nation's western coffee-producing region, are among Colombia's major commercial and population centers. Colombia sits along the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire in South America.
The tariff request comes after the US government increased custom duties on imported Colombian products from 10% to 12.5% at the end of July. The tariff hike took effect on July 24, replacing a general tariff imposed by the Trump administration earlier in the year, though specific commodities such as coffee and crude petroleum were excluded from the increase.
Diplomatic Ties and Regional Security
Trump publicly endorsed de la Espriella, a millionaire lawyer and businessman from Colombia's hard-right political faction, during his election campaign. De la Espriella succeeded social democrat Gustavo Petro, who served as Colombia's first left-wing president.
After taking office, de la Espriella aligned Colombia with the Shield of the Americas, an international initiative established by Trump to combat drug trafficking across the region. The alliance includes other right-governed Latin American nations such as Argentina, Ecuador, and El Salvador.
Under the terms of the Shield of the Americas, member nations are expected to strengthen intelligence sharing and deepen cooperation between security forces and judicial systems to suppress cross-border crime. De la Espriella also plans to forge a military alliance with the United States and Israel to intensify operations against rebel movements active within Colombia.
