Panama’s president rejected Donald Trump’s threat to reimpose US control over the Panama Canal, stating that sovereignty over the waterway is not negotiable.
“Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent zones is part of Panama, and it will continue to be,” José Raúl Mulino said Sunday in a video statement on X, the social platform.
After Mulino’s retort, President-elect Trump said, “We’ll see about that!” on his Truth Social platform.
Xeneta analyst Emily Stausbøll said Trump’s comments add to the uncertainty for global trade heading into 2025. “But the likelihood of this actually being followed through is so low that we don’t expect to see any reaction from shippers or carriers — at this stage,” she said.
Shipping industry veteran John McCown, author of the book “Giants of the Sea,” noted that Panama Canal tolls totaled $3.35 billion in 2023 based on 14,080 transits, or about $238,000 in tolls for each ship’s passage. That’s up about 29% from 2017, he said.
Container ships account for about 20%, he added, and Panama Canal tolls are less than two-thirds of the charges for crossing the Suez Canal.
Tankers moving LNG have a high ratio of shipping cost to cargo value. “With news reports indicating that more LNG export facilities will be opened up, perhaps that might be something Trump is focused on with this threat,” said McCown, who wondered about the precedent set if the US were to retake control of the canal.
“This decision was long ago made and appropriately documented and we can’t just unilaterally say it never happened,” he said. “If we do that, what’s to stop Russia from saying we want Alaska back or France from saying we want the Louisiana Purchase back? So, at multiple levels, this threat makes no sense to me.”
Lars Jensen, the founder and CEO of Vespucci Maritime, said Trump appears to be “wholly ignorant of the facts” around the canal.
“The neutrality treaty which came in place when the Canal shifted back to Panama is very clear that Panama cannot ‘play favorites,’ i.e., advantage or disadvantage shipping interests from specific countries,” Jensen said. “Demanding lower prices for US shipping would be a violation of the this treaty.”
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