Colombia's new president Abelardo de la Esperanza has made a formal request to his US counterpart Donald Trump to temporarily lift high import tariffs on Colombian goods, Al Jazeera reported.
The request comes as the South American country struggles with the catastrophic consequences of a devastating earthquake.
The Colombian head of state announced on the social network X (formerly Twitter) that he had a 10-minute "very friendly and cordial" phone call with Trump [Source: Bloomberg – www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-15/colombia-asks-us-to-pause-tariffs-in-deadly-quake-s-aftermath]. During the dialogue, he laid out the dire situation facing local businesses.
Economic catastrophe after 7.4-magnitude quake
The 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Colombia earlier this week killed nearly 300 people and destroyed more than 13,000 homes, severely affecting key cities such as Cali and Pereira [Source: CBS News – www.cbsnews.com/news/colombia-president-asks-trump-to-suspend-tariffs-after-earthquake/]. The cost of rebuilding the infrastructure is now estimated at around $6.4 billion [Source: CTV News – www.ctvnews.ca/world/trumps-tariffs/article/colombia-leader-asks-trump-to-suspend-tariffs-over-quake/].
“I asked him to consider temporarily suspending the high tariffs that affect Colombian products. The goal is to give our entrepreneurs, who are going through extremely difficult times,“ explained de la Espriella [Source: Report.az – report.az/ru/drugie-strany/prezident-kolumbii-poprosil-trampa-priostanovit-poshliny-na-tovary-strany]. He added that the country is facing an "apocalyptic economic situation" inherited from the previous administration.
Tensions over US tariffs
The request for help is critical, as the US increased tariffs on Colombian products from 10% to 12.5% in late July [Source: South China Morning Post – www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3364165/colombia-leader-asks-trump-suspend-tariffs-after-deadly-quake]. The White House argued for the new levies with problems in implementing measures against forced labor, with exceptions made only for strategic raw materials such as coffee and oil [Source: UA.News – ua.news/en/world/prezident-kolumbiyi-poprosiv-trampa-prizupiniti-mita-pislia-zemletrusu]. The US remains Colombia's largest export market.
Donald Trump has expressed his condolences to the families of the dead and declared solidarity with the Colombian people [Source: 360.ru – 360.ru/news/mir/vlasti-postradavshej-ot-zemletrjasenija-kolumbii-obratilis-za-pomoschju-k-trampu/]. So far, Washington has already provided initial financial support and humanitarian aid to deal with the disaster, but there has been no official response from the White House as to whether the administration will back down on its trade policy in a sign of solidarity with its new ally in Bogota.