U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday criticized what he called unfair tariffs on U.S. ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to reinforce U.S. control of the waterway.
He also alluded to China's growing influence around the canal, a worrying trend for U.S. interests, as American companies rely on the channel to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“Our freedom and trade have been treated in a very unfair and unwise way, the tariffs imposed by Panama are ridiculous,” he said in a post on the Truth Social platform, adding that “this complete deception of our country will stop immediately.”
The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was returned to the Central American country under a 1977 agreement signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter.
Panama had full control of the canal in 1999.
“It was up to Panama alone to manage the canal, not China or anyone else,” Trump said, adding that “we will never allow it to fall into the wrong hands.”
He added that if Panama cannot guarantee “the safe, efficient and reliable operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be fully returned to us.”
Authorities in Panama did not immediately respond to Trump's post.
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