Key Takeaways
- The Panama Canal Authority has denied Trump’s accusations of biased use, stating China has no involvement in its operations.
- The average cost of crossing the canal is about $750,000, but it can range from $300,000 to $1 million.
- The Panama Canal Authority emphasizes that rules are rules and there are no exceptions, which would violate the neutrality treaty and international law.
Washington: Panama Canal Authority head Ricaurte Vasquez Morales has denied US President-elect Donald Trump’s accusations that the canal is allegedly managed by China, while US ships face higher tariffs.
“The Panama Canal Authority has denied Trump’s accusations of biased use, stating that China has no involvement in its operations. The authority emphasizes that rules are rules and there are no exceptions, which would violate the neutrality treaty and international law.” Vasquez Morales told The Wall Street Journal newspaper on Wednesday.
The average cost of crossing the canal for ships is about $750,000, but it can range from $300,000 to $1 million, the report said.
“They [tariffs] apply to all ships from around the world and there are no exceptions,” Vasquez Morales added.
In addition, he reportedly noted that Panama had not requested funds from the United States to modernize the canal, since the authorities are financing the repairs from their own revenues.
Trump said on December 22 that he would demand the rapid return of the Panama Canal to American ownership due to high fees for passage through it. The politician emphasized that the Panama Canal was critically important for US trade, as well as for the rapid deployment of US naval forces in the Atlantic and the Pacific
