The U.S. along with Colombia narrowly averted a trade war on Sunday.
This is after the White House announced that the South American nation had consented to accept military aircraft transporting deported migrants from the U.S.
President Donald Trump had menaced with tariffs and sanctions against Colombia, aiming to penalize it for previously rejecting military flights that carried deportees as part of his extensive immigration crackdown.
However, in a statement late on Sunday, the White House declared, that Colombia had ultimately agreed to accept the migrants and thus Washington would refrain from imposing its threatened penalties.
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“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 U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay,” it said.
Draft orders imposing tariffs and sanctions on Colombia would be “held in reserve, and not signed, unless Colombia fails to honor this agreement”, it added.
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“Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again. President Trump … expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States,” the White House statement said.
In a statement late on Sunday, Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said: “We have overcome the impasse with the U.S. government”.
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“The government of Colombia … has the presidential plane ready to facilitate the return of Colombians who were going to arrive in the country this morning on deportation flights.”
Although the statement did not explicitly indicate that the agreement encompassed military flights, it certainly did not dispute the White House’s announcement.
