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Tariffs sought after quake
Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, asked United States President Donald Trump to “temporarily suspend” tariffs targeting Colombian products as the country reels from a deadly earthquake that struck on Monday and killed at least 294 people, according to Colombia’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management.
“requested the US “temporarily suspend” tariffs on Colombia”
The request came after US tariffs on Colombian products rose from 10 percent to 12.5 percent in late July, with a few exceptions including coffee and oil, and the US remained Colombia’s top export market.
De la Espriella said he had a “very friendly and cordial” 10-minute conversation with Trump and told him that Colombia faced “a huge challenge ahead: rebuilding Colombia amid the extremely difficult and apocalyptic economic situation that I inherited.”
CBS News reported that the tremor devastated the western Colombian cities of Cali and Pereira, leaving nearly 300 people dead and destroying almost 13,000 homes.
France 24 reported that at least 300 people were killed in the quake that devastated Cali and Pereira, and that the tariffs De la Espriella asked to suspend were set to give “relief” to business owners facing the earthquake’s effects.
Call details, condolences
De la Espriella said on X that he asked Trump to consider “to temporarily suspend the high tariffs that are affecting Colombian products, in order to give some relief to our business owners,” and he described the conversation as “very friendly and cordial.”
In the same account, he said Trump expressed condolences for the deaths from Monday’s 7.4-magnitude quake and that he told Trump about “rebuilding Colombia amid the extremely difficult and apocalyptic economic situation that I inherited.”
CTV News said De la Espriella urged Trump to suspend tariffs over the earthquake, while also noting that he did not reveal what Trump’s response was to the request.
In a separate report, Canal 1 En vivo said De La Espriella thanked Trump for economic aid and the support of US rescue teams and quoted him saying, “we have a huge challenge ahead: to rebuild Colombia in the midst of the very difficult and apocalyptic economic situation I inherited.”
La FM likewise reported that De La Espriella described the call as “very friendly and cordial” and said Trump expressed solidarity with Colombian families affected by the emergency.
Reconstruction and aid stakes
The earthquake’s toll and damage figures in the coverage underscored the scale of reconstruction that De la Espriella said he discussed with Trump, with Le Devoir reporting the quake killed nearly 300 people, left at least 320 missing, and nearly 4,000 injured, while destroying about 13,000 homes.
“bringing its total contribution since the earthquake to $26.5 million”
Le Devoir also reported that the US State Department announced a new aid package bringing its total contribution since the earthquake to $26.5 million for Colombia, as rescue operations continued and the chances of survival for hundreds of missing persons shrank about a week after the quake.
In the same account, Le Devoir quoted delivery man Fernando Gaitán, 55, saying, “If someone is alive, it’s a miracle, but I don’t think there is life underneath,” and it cited AFP’s fire captain Javier Jiménez saying, “We will stay until the last person is found.”
Al Jazeera reported that de la Espriella said he had requested the US “temporarily suspend” tariffs to give “relief” to business owners, while also saying Colombia’s Finance Minister Miguel Gomez said the government was not yet considering raising taxes to find the approximately $6.4bn needed for reconstruction.
The stakes for Colombia’s economic recovery were framed alongside the tariff dispute, with Al Jazeera reporting that the White House announced renewed tariffs targeting nearly every US trading partner, including Colombia, after a legal defeat on “Liberation Day” tariffs.