Panama Canal denies special treatment of US Government vessels
This comes only days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Panama should make ‘immediate changes’ to the ‘influence and control’ of China
The canal authority refuted claims by the US State Department that it would not longer charge US Government vessels to transit the canal
THE Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has denied claims that it will allow US Government vessels to transit the canal free of charge.
A US State Department post on social media platform X on February 6 claimed the ACP had agreed to drop the fees, which would “save the US government millions of dollars a year”.
U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a year. pic.twitter.com/G4gV2mHu7O
— Department of State (@StateDept) February 6, 2025
Just hours later, the ACP was forced to deny the claims made by the State Department, again via X.
Comunicado del Canal de Panamá. pic.twitter.com/huTl3d7wz7
— Canal de Panamá (@canaldepanama) February 6, 2025
The authority said it was “authorised to set tolls and other fees for transiting the canal” and had not made any adjustments to them.
This is another episode in the saga concerning the Panama Canal which began with president Trump’s inauguration.
The BBC reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded Panama make “immediate changes” to reduce Chinese influence over the canal only a few days ago in a meeting with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.
Mulino said his country would not renew a 2017 Memorandum of Understanding to participate in China’s Belt and Road initiative.
