Colombia Seeks Tariff Relief From Trump Following Devastating Quake
- Edited by: Sagar Kar
- Updated Aug 16, 2026, 04:59 IST
Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has asked Trump to temporarily suspend tariffs on Colombian products to help businesses recover after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake killed nearly 300 people.
This aerial view shows heavy machinery used by rescuers in the search for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake in Pereira, Colombia.
Colombia’s newly elected president, Abelardo de la Espriella, has appealed to President Trump to temporarily lift tariffs on Colombian goods, saying the country’s businesses need relief as it recovers from a deadly earthquake. De la Espriella disclosed the information on X, saying he had asked Trump to consider temporarily suspending the steep tariffs currently affecting Colombian products. He framed the request as a way to give struggling business owners some breathing room, given the difficult circumstances brought on by the earthquake.
US tariffs on Colombian goods jumped from 10 percent to 12.5 percent in late July, with a handful of exceptions that include coffee and oil. That increase took effect on July 24, replacing an expiring global duty the Trump administration had rolled out earlier in the year.
A Call Between the Two Leaders
De la Espriella said he spoke with Trump for about 10 minutes, during which the US president offered his condolences over the lives lost in Monday’s 7.4 magnitude earthquake. According to the Colombian leader, the conversation was friendly and cordial.
De la Espriella said he told Trump that Colombia now faces an enormous task ahead: rebuilding the country in the middle of what he described as an extremely difficult and apocalyptic economic situation that he inherited when he took office.
The Scale of the Disaster
The earthquake devastated the western Colombian cities of Cali and Pereira, leaving nearly 300 people dead and destroying close to 13,000 homes, according to CBS News.
How the Tariffs Came About
Back in July, the Trump administration placed tariffs of up to 12.5 percent on 60 different nations, including Colombia, accusing them of failing to adequately address forced labor practices. Those tariffs were put in place under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, replacing an earlier set of levies that had been imposed under Section 122 of the same law back in February before expiring.
The shift from Section 122 to Section 301 tariffs came after the Supreme Court struck down a separate, broader set of tariffs Trump had imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. The court ruled in February that those tariffs had been enacted illegally, without the required authorization from Congress.
A Shift in US Colombia Relations
Trump had publicly backed De la Espriella, a millionaire lawyer turned politician from the political right, during his presidential campaign. De la Espriella took over from leftist president Gustavo Petro, whose time in office was frequently marked by friction with the Trump administration.
Petro had been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department last October. Since taking office, De la Espriella has aligned Colombia with the Shield of the Americas, an anti cartel alliance led by Trump that brings together pro US governments across Latin America, including Argentina, Ecuador and El Salvador.
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Sagar is a journalist with an interest primarily in geopolitics and American domestic politics. Before joining Times Now, he wrote for Republic and Sw… View More
Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/delhi
