Rubio walks back State Department’s claim of free Panama Canal transit for US government vessels – CNN

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has walked back the State Department’s assertion that Panama “has agreed to no longer charge fees” to US government vessels transiting the Panama Canal after an outcry from the Panamanian government.

On Thursday, Rubio said that the US “expects” Panama to remove the fees, but acknowledged that “Panama has a process of laws and procedures that they need to follow as it relates to the Panamanian port.”

“(Panama has) a democratically elected government. They have rules, they have laws. They’re going to follow their process,” Rubio said during a press conference in the Dominican Republic.

Rubio said that the US would be obligated to protect the Panama Canal if it comes under attack, adding that he found it “absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict.”

“Those are our expectations. They were clear. They were clearly understood in those conversations,” he said.

Rubio’s comments come after the US State Department claimed in a post on X on Wednesday that “US government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the US government millions of dollars a year.”

The claim sparked a strong rebuttal from Panama’s government.

Panama’s President Raúl Mulino said he was “very surprised” by the US State Department’s claim and criticized it as an “intolerable” falsehood.

“[The State Department] are making an important and institutional statement from the entity that governs the foreign policy of the United States under the President of the United States based on a falsehood, and that is intolerable. Simply and plainly intolerable,” Mulino said at a news conference earlier on Thursday.

Mulino expressed Panama’s “absolute rejection” of maintaining bilateral relations with the US “on the basis of lies and falsehoods.”

The president’s comments come after the Panama Canal Authority denied it had made any adjustments to tolls and fees for vessels transiting the waterway in a statement late Wednesday.

“In response to a publication released by the United States Department of State, the Panama Canal Authority, which is authorized to set tolls and other fees for transiting the Canal, reports that it has not made any adjustments to them,” the authority said in a statement, adding that it stood ready to establish a dialogue with the US.

Panama’s statement directly contradicted the State Department’s claim earlier in the evening.

Over the past 26 years the US has paid a total of $25.4 million dollars for the transit of warships and submarines, equivalent to less than one million dollars per year, according to a Panama Canal Authority release.

CNN has contacted the State Department for comment.

The latest controversy came just days after President Donald Trump reiterated his vow to “take back” the Panama Canal, warning of “powerful” US action in an escalating diplomatic dispute with the Central American country over China’s presence around the vital waterway.

“China is running the Panama Canal that was not given to China, that was given to Panama foolishly, but they violated the agreement, and we’re going to take it back, or something very powerful is going to happen,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.

Hours earlier, the diplomatic stir caused by Trump’s repeated and publicly stated desire for the US to retake control of the canal had appeared to ease after Secretary of State Rubio, making his first overseas trip as the top US diplomat, met with Panama’s President Raúl Mulino.

Though Mulino told Rubio that Panama’s sovereignty over the canal was not up for debate, he also said he had addressed Washington’s concerns over Beijing’s purported influence.

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Panama would not renew a 2017 memorandum of understanding to join China’s overseas development initiative, known as the Belt and Road initiative, Mulino said, also suggesting that the deal with Beijing could end early.

The canal was returned to Panama under a 1977 treaty, which allows the US to intervene militarily if the waterway’s operations are disrupted by internal conflict or a foreign power. Today, more cargo than ever runs through the canal than it did during the years of US control.

Since 2000 the canal has been operated by the Panama Canal Authority, whose administrator, deputy administrator and 11-member board are selected by Panama’s government but operate independently.

Panama Ports – part of a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings – operates terminals on the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the canal. So do several other companies.

Hutchinson was first granted the concession over the two ports in 1997 when Panama and the US jointly administered the canal.

The company is publicly traded, not known to be on any US blacklists and their subsidiary Hutchinson Ports is one of the world’s largest port operators, overseeing 53 ports in 24 countries, including for other US allies such as the UK, Australia and Canada. Hutchison also does not control access to the Panama Canal.

This story has been updated.
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Source: https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/06/americas/panama-canal-state-department-hnk-intl/index.html