Donald Trump has threatened to demand the return of the Panama Canal to the US if it continues to charge what he considers “ridiculous†fees for maritime freight. Panama has rejected Trump's claims.
Panama âs President José Raúl Mulino hit back at Donald Trump after the president-elect said he would demand the Panama Canal be “returned†to the US if the vital waterway was not operated to his liking. Trump âs weekend salvo and the ensuing diplomatic feud offered a taste of his chaotic brand of international politics less than a month before he returns to the White House.
The president-elect attacked the Central American country over what he considered excessive fees for maritime freight to use the canal, which is vital to the US economy. “I want to express precisely that every square metre of the Panama Canal and its adjacent area belong to PANAMA, and will continue to be. The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable,†Mulino said in a statement on Sunday. Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that “we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us†if the “principles, both moral and legal, of magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed†, adding that control of the canal was “foolishly†ceded to Panama 25 years ago. “Weâre being ripped off at the Panama Canal like weâre being ripped off everywhere else,†Trump told supporters at a conservative conference in Phoenix on Sunday. “The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair.†The US, which completed the canal 110 years ago, handed over full control to Panama in 1999, during Bill Clintonâs presidency, following a treaty negotiated in 1977 by then-president Jimmy Carter. “We built it. Weâre the ones that use it. They gave it away,†Trump said of the Carter administration. The Panama Canal is dominated by US traffic. Almost 75 per cent of its cargo goes to or from the US, according to the Panama Canal Authority. The waterway links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, allowing ships to avoid a long voyage around South America
PANAMA TRUMP PANCAMA CANAL DIPLOMACY INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
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