“These measures are just the beginning,” Trump threatened in a post on 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!”
President Trump – Rapacious Maximus – just punished Colombia for its failure to permit US military aircraft to land and offload our deported immigrants. Colombia’s sovereignty – although a foundational international foundation – was unsurprisingly ignored by Trump’s outburst of venom. He immediately impose a 25% tariff on all Colombian goods, and threatened to raise it to 50% within one week. He did not discuss the inflationary impact on U.S. consumers that this tariff will have on a number of consumer products. After often centering his campaign message on Biden’s inlation, it appears that is in his rear view mirror. . .
There’s much more to learn about this breaking news here and here, including other sanctions placed on Columbia, announcing at the end of his madman dictator’s message that this is only the beginning of U.S. disfavor, and stating that Colombia, by exercising its sovereignty, “violated its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!” What legal obligations, indeed? We’ll see. . .
In any event, here are the top 10 Colombian imports for 2023 (to see the long list see here). Though a small proportion of these items when viewed on the basis of total dollar value of all foreign imports, for Colombia a 25% tariff (and possibly a 50% tariff) will hurt, and for U.S. consumers should the tariffs might cause price rises in certain items sourced exclusively by Colombia. Finally, how long can Colombia hold out?
| United States Imports from Colombia | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products | $7.19B | 2023 |
| Pearls, precious stones, metals, coins | $1.86B | 2023 |
| Live trees, plants, bulbs, roots, cut flowers | $1.57B | 2023 |
| Coffee, tea, mate and spices | $1.42B | 2023 |
| Commodities not specified according to kind | $672.77M | 2023 |
| Aluminum | $637.48M | 2023 |
| Edible fruits, nuts, peel of citrus fruit, melons | $422.14M | 2023 |
| Electrical, electronic equipment | $296.99M | 2023 |
| Miscellaneous edible preparations | $232.35M | 2023 |
| Plastics | $219.92M | 2023 |