medellin colombia – Ecuador announced this Thursday it will increase tariffs on goods imported from Colombia, as the ongoing trade dispute between the two neighbors escalates.
The new levy is scheduled to take effect on March 1, expanding a dispute that began in January and resulted in 30% reciprocal tariffs as well as punitive measures on certain goods such as energy.
Ecuador’s government, led by hard-right President Daniel Noboa, has imposed tariffs on Colombia for the first time, accusing Bogotá of failing to crack down on organized crime with which the country shares a border.
Novoa’s administration justified the recent tariff hikes as a response to ongoing unrest.
“After confirming that Colombia has failed to implement concrete and effective measures in the field of border security, Ecuador realizes that it has an obligation to take sovereign measures,” Colombia’s Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade and Investment said in a statement Thursday.
This is the latest development in tensions between the two countries, which have seen retaliatory tariffs since January.
A day after Noboa imposed a 30% tariff on Colombian imports, Bogota imposed the same tariff on food, agricultural products and industrial goods and halted the sale of electricity.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro also defended his country’s efforts to combat crime, citing the seizure of more than 200 tons of cocaine at the border and Colombia’s “close” ties with Ecuadorian security forces.
Noboa increased the cost of transporting Colombian crude oil through Ecuador’s pipeline network by 900% after Bogota stopped exporting electricity to Ecuador.
Business associations in both countries have reacted largely negatively to the trade dispute, and transport workers protested border tariffs earlier this month.
The Federation of Ecuadorian Exporters (Fedexor) this Tuesday called on Novoa to resume talks with Colombia to resolve the trade dispute. Ecuador’s weekly exports to neighboring countries amount to $5.25 million.
Javier Díaz Molina, president of Colombia’s National Foreign Trade Association (Analdez Coombia), said Thursday that the new 50% tariff would make trade between the two countries “impossible.” He added that the tariffs would harm legal and official trade between the neighboring countries. This means that “the only people who benefit from these measures are those involved in illegal activities.”
After the 2023 election, Novoa aligned himself with the White House’s policies, making a tough-on-crime approach a top administration priority. The border the two countries share stretches 600 kilometers from the Pacific to the Amazon and has been a hub for organized crime, drug trafficking and illegal mining.
Featured Image: Colombia-EcuadorR Border taken in 2020.
Image credit: Burkhard Mücke via Wikimedia Commons
