Donald Trump and Panama clash over control of the canal

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Panama President Jos Ral Mulino has hit back at Donald Trump after the president-elect said he would demand the Panama Canal be returned to the United States if the vital waterway was not operated to his liking.

Trump's weekend salvo and ensuing diplomatic spat provided a taste of his chaotic view of international politics less than a month before he returns to the White House. The president-elect has attacked the Central American country for what he sees as excessive fees for maritime freight using the canal, which is vital to the U.S. economy.

I want to express precisely that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent area belongs to PANAMA and will continue to do so. The sovereignty and independence of our country are non-negotiable, Mulino said in a statement on Sunday.

Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that we would demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us if the principles, both moral and legal, of the [the USs] The magnanimous gestures of surrender are not followed, adding that control of the canal was foolishly ceded to Panama 25 years ago.

We're being scammed at the Panama Canal like everywhere else, Trump told supporters at a conservative conference in Phoenix on Sunday. The fees Panama charges are ridiculous and very unfair.

The United States, which completed the canal 110 years ago, ceded full control to Panama in 1999 under President Bill Clinton following a treaty negotiated in 1977 by then-President Jimmy Carter . We built it. These were the ones who used it. They gave it away, Trump said of the Carter administration.

The Panama Canal is dominated by American traffic. Nearly 75 percent of its cargo goes to or comes from the United States, according to the Panama Canal Authority. The waterway connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, allowing ships to avoid a long journey around South America.

About $270 billion in global goods pass through the canal each year, although officials have struggled to persuade some shippers to return to the route after a drought reduced the number of ships that could use the waterway.

Lael Brainard, director of Joe Biden's National Economic Council, said Thursday during a speech at the Brookings Institution that reduced water levels in the canal have contributed to supply chain tensions in recent years.

A former center-right security minister, Mulino became president in May, after campaigning on boosting foreign investment and stagnating economic growth.

Mulino said the canal's rates were not set on a whim but based on market conditions and international competition, as well as its operation, maintenance and modernization costs. He added that the trade route brings billions of dollars to the Panamanian economy.

In 2017, Panama severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan and established relations with China. Chinese investment in infrastructure and trade zones has made Beijing an important economic partner of Panama, with a Hong Kong-based company operating two of the ports at either end of the canal.

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Negotiations for a trade agreement between Panama and China began in 2018 but have stalled. However, Julio Molt, Panama's Minister of Trade and Industry, recently said talks could resume in 2025.

Trump wrote Saturday that the canal was not China's and claimed Sunday that the canal was falling into the wrong hands.

Mulino said: The Canal has no control, direct or indirect, from China, the European Community, the United States or any other power.

During the election campaign, Mulino emphasized relations with the United States, proposing cooperation on migration and promising to close the Darin Gap, a stretch of jungle between Panama and Colombia that a record number of migrants crossed to get to the United States.

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