By PAUL WISEMAN, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tax on imports from Colombia comes at a most inauspicious time: The wrangling over the South American country’s willingness to accept flights carrying deported immigrants is flaring up just three weeks before Valentine’s Day, and Colombia is America’s No. 1 foreign source of cut flowers.
But romantics may spared from becoming victims of a trade dispute. The White House declared victory on Sunday, saying that Colombia had reversed itself and agreed to allow the flights to land, backing down just hours after Trump threatened to impose visa restrictions in addition to the steep tariffs on its longtime ally in South America.
The White House said tariffs on Colombian exports would be put on hold, but added that visa restrictions on Colombian officials and enhanced custom inspections would remain “until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.”
Earlier, Columbian President Gustavo Petro’s had rejected two Colombia-bound U.S. military aircraft carrying migrants. Petro accused Trump of not treating immigrants with dignity during deportation and threatened to retaliate against U.S. by slapping a 25% increase in Colombian tariffs on U.S. goods.
The Colombian government signaled late Sunday that the standoff was over: “We have overcome the impasse with the United States government,” said Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo. “We will continue to receive Colombians who return as deportees, guaranteeing them decent conditions as citizens subject to rights.”
The U.S. is Colombia’s biggest export market but it accounts for just 0.5% of American goods imports, ranking as the world’s No. 26 importer of goods to the United States.
From January through November, the U.S. ran a $1 billion surplus with Colombia last year in goods, as U.S. exports of $17.2 billion — including soybeans and cotton — topped imports of $16.2 billion.
Here are Colombia’s biggest exports to the U.S.:
Flowers
Through November, the U.S. had imported $1.14 billion worth of cut flowers from Colombia, more than it brought in for all of 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Colombia has an ideal climate and soil for growing flowers such as roses, carnations and chrysanthemums. Much of the cultivation is centered in the savanna around the capital Bogota. Temperatures are mild, the sun shines 12 hours a day and the growing season lasts year round.
U.S. government aid money has supported the Colombian flower industry, creating jobs for people displaced by terrorist- and drug-related violence.
Coffee
Colombia is the United States’ No. 2 source of coffee behind Brazil: The USDA says that U.S. coffee imports from Colombia came to $1.4 billion in January-November 2024, down slightly from the same period of 2023.
For decades, Colombian coffee has been marketed in the United States through advertisements featuring the fictional farmer Juan Valdez, often seen carrying sacks of coffee beans.
Crude oil
Colombia’s biggest export to the United States is crude oil. Through November, the United States had imported 70 million barrels of crude oil from Colombia, worth almost $5.4 billion. In 2023, the U.S. imported $5.6 billion worth of Colombian crude.
Colombia was the No. 6 source of imported crude to the United States, accounting for just over 3% of oil imports in 2023. The Colombian oil giant Ecopetrol is on the Fortune 500 register of the world’s biggest companies.
