US President Donald Trump speaks to the media after signing an executive order at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on January 23, 2025.
Robert Schmidt | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s newly announced tariffs on goods from Colombia could raise the price of some items Americans buy every day.
trump said in a social media posts On Sunday, he will immediately impose a 25% tariff on all goods entering the United States from Colombia, including blankets. The announcement came after Colombia refused to allow the US military to fly in deported migrants. Trump also said tariffs would jump to 50% in a week.
Tariffs are effectively taxes on goods when they are brought into a country. Although importing companies pay taxes, the costs are often passed on to other parties in the form of higher prices, including U.S. consumers.
Which items will be a hit?
Although Colombia is not one of the United States’ largest trading partners, steep tariffs could still affect billions of dollars of economic activity. Office of the U.S. Trade Representative conducts POT total bilateral trade The trade surplus between the United States and Colombia is $53.5 billion annually as of 2022, with the U.S. having a trade surplus of $3.9 billion.
According to data compiled by Observatory of economic complexityor OEC, oil is Colombia’s largest export to the United States at approximately $6 billion in 2022.
Oil is a two-way trade, as refined oil from the United States is Colombia’s largest export.
According to the OEC, Colombia’s second largest export was coffee at $1.8 billion. Colombia accounts for approximately 20% of the coffee shipped to the United States, making it the second largest source of imports after Brazil. US Department of Agriculture.
Coffee tariffs could squeeze Americans who already have to pay for their drinks. Coffee prices increased by 3.8% According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it will exceed the overall rate of inflation in 2024.
Cut flowers were the third largest import from Colombia at $1.6 billion. Other items regularly shipped from Colombia to the United States include gold and aluminum structures.
Workers place bouquets of flowers on a plantation in Torcampa near Bogotá, Colombia.
Daniel Muñoz | AFP | Getty Images
international tensions
Colombian tariffs are a ripple effect of the Trump administration The U.S. crackdown on undocumented immigrants in Mexico and Brazil is among the countries that have challenged U.S. plans to send migrants back to their former homes.
