Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said on Saturday that he has asked the United States to "temporarily suspend" tariffs imposed on Colombia to ease the burden on the country's businesses.
The request comes as Colombia faces a humanitarian and economic crisis following a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake on Monday. According to Colombia's National Disaster Risk Management Agency, the quake killed at least 294 people and damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of buildings across the country.
Post-earthquake reconstruction is expected to cost around $6.4 billion. However, Colombian Finance Minister Miguel Gomez said the government has not considered raising taxes to raise these funds, according to local media.
Meanwhile, US tariffs on Colombian goods rose from 10% to 12.5% at the end of July, with some exceptions including coffee and oil. The US is Colombia's largest export market.
President de la Espriella described a 10-minute phone call with President Trump as "very friendly and open." He said: "I told him that we are facing a major challenge ahead: rebuilding Colombia amid an extremely difficult economic context, almost apocalyptic, that I inherited."
The White House's new tariff move targets nearly all US trading partners, including Colombia, based on allegations that these countries do not comply with measures against forced labor. The decision came shortly after the Trump administration's legal setback regarding "Liberation Day" tariffs, which were rejected by the Supreme Court.
President de la Espriella, a millionaire lawyer turned politician, received support from Trump during his campaign before narrowly defeating leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda in June.
Since taking office in early August, de la Espriella has joined the US-led anti-drug trafficking alliance called the "American Shield," along with several other South American nations. Colombia's new president has also announced plans to establish a military alliance with the US and Israel to strengthen its capacity to deal with prolonged conflicts with armed groups within the country.
