The Panama Channel denies the claim for free transition to government ships | Donald Trump News

The authority of the Panama Canal says it is ready to have a dialogue with Washington, Colombia on the transit of US warships.

The Panama Channel Authority denied the statement of the US State Department that a transaction had been achieved that allows the United States government ships to cross the channel without paying fees, probably intensifying tensions after President Donald Trump Threatened to take control of the water channel that connects the Pacific and the Atlantic.

In a statement on Wednesday, the channel body, an autonomous agency controlled by the Panama Government, said it did not make any changes to the transition fees or rights to cross the channel, adding that its statement was directly in response to US claims.

“The body of the Panama Channel, which is empowered to determine fees and other fees for the passage of the channel, reports that it has not made any adjustments to them,” the statement said.

But he said he was still ready to have a dialogue with US authorities “with regard to the transit of wartime from the said country.”

Panama has become a Trump administration focal point As the president has accused that the Central America country of charging excessive percentages to use its commercial passage, which is one of the most busy in the world.

Earlier on Wednesday, the US State Department said the Panama government agreed to no longer charge fees for crossing US government ships, which would save millions of the United States.

“US government ships can now transport the Panama Channel without a taxi, saving the US government millions of dollars a year,” the State Department said in a publication on the social media platform X.

It was the first public announcement of promises hinted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the discounts were offered during his visit to Panama on Sunday.

After winning the US election in November, Trump refused to exclude the use of a channel seizure force, which 40 percent of container trafficking in the United States is passing.

In his opening speech in January, Trump said the United States would “return” to the channel – the construction of which was created by France in 1881, but completed in 1914 by the United States. Washington handed the control of the channel back to Panama in 1999 under the contracts signed in 1977.

Trump also repeatedly says that the channel will be returned to the United States “entirely and without a doubt if a deal is not achieved.

At the same time, he also accused Panama of overcoming control over the channel in China, which Panama and China deny.

During his trip to Panama, Rubio He had conversations with Panama President Jose Raul MulinoWho later promised to withdraw from the Chinese belt and road initiative.

Mulino has also ordered an audit by Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of Hong Kong -based CK Hutchison Holdings, which manages the two main ports around the channel.

The company received a concession in 1997, which was extended for 25 years in 2021, despite increasing concern in Washington as China tightened political control over Hong Kong.

Mulino, however, rejected Trump's threat that the United States is taking control of the channel.