WASHINGTON — Panama says it will not renew its agreement involving China’s premier foreign-investment program after Panamanian leaders met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, marking another victory for President Trump.
Panama will allow its 2017 trade and development pact involving China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” to expire, said Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino at a press conference Sunday — after months of threats by Trump to take back the Panama Canal, claiming “American ships are being severely overcharged” and accusing China of “operating” the crucial waterway.
Mulino even said he will explore options to see if his country’s involvement in the agreement can end sooner than the one or two years it may take for it.
The “Belt and Road Initiative” — established in 2013 as China’s main project for investing in foreign infrastructure — has ultimately led to more of its influence around the world.
Mulino said Panama would be interested in the US investing in the country’s infrastructure instead.
But the Panamanian president made sure to add that the canal’s sovereignty is still under Panama.
Panama’s announcement that it would be ending its involvement in China’s major investment program occurred the day before Mexico also caved over Trump’s new 25% tariff on Mexican products.
Trump and Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Monday that they had agreed a one-month pause on the across-the-board tariff by the US in exchange for concessions on border security by Mexico while a broader deal gets negotiated.
Rubio, during his trip to the Panama, had warned that the US would act to end China’s influence over the canal, saying that as long as the Chinese Communist Party is in power, China is a threat to the international treaty that is supposed to ensure the canal remains neutral.
Rubio went to Panama for his first trip as secretary of state.
“Secretary Rubio informed President Mulino and Minister Martínez-Acha that President Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal and represents a violation of the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal,” a State Department readout of the Rubio meeting read.
“Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the Treaty.”
The top diplomat celebrated Panama’s response to the Chinese “Belt and Road Initiative,” writing on X that it is a “great step forward for US-Panama relations” and a “free Panama Canal.
“Another example of [Trump’s] leadership to protect our national security and deliver prosperity for the American people,” Rubio said.
The White House and National Security Council did not respond to inquiries from The Post.
