Ecuador to impose 30% tariff on Colombian goods from February

QUITO/BOGOTA, Jan 21 - Ecuador will impose a 30% tariff on goods from Colombia, a major electricity provider, starting on February 1, President Daniel Noboa said on Wednesday, citing a trade deficit and a lack of cooperation on fighting drug trafficking on their shared border. 

"This measure will remain in place until there is a real commitment to jointly tackle drug trafficking and illegal mining on the border, with the same seriousness and determination that Ecuador is currently demonstrating," Noboa said on X. 

Colombian Energy Minister Edwin Palma blasted the tariffs as "economic aggression" in a social media post, saying he had ordered the dismantling of a recent initiative to allow private firms to take part in energy sales between the countries to limit potential scarcity.

"Colombia has acted with facts, cooperation, and solidarity," Palma said, noting Colombia provides 8% to 10% of Ecuador's power consumption. 

"That is why dialogue between nations is essential, not unilateral measures that only harm our peoples," he said.

The Ecuadorean government on Wednesday evening in a statement said it had rectified the tariff measure to "provide for specific exceptions" on the sale of electricity and oil logistics services.

NOBOA FOCUSED ON FIGHTING CRIME

Colombia's president's office, trade and foreign ministries told Reuters they were examining the measure. Shortly after Noboa's announcement, Colombia's defense ministry said it had seized a shipment of marijuana at the shared border during a joint operation between the countries' militaries.

The U.S. has also signaled it could put pressure on Colombia as well as Mexico over drug trafficking by organized crime in those two countries, following Washington's dramatic January 3 attack on Caracas and capture of President Nicolas Maduro, whom it has accused of being a "narco-dictator." 

Noboa has made the fight against crime a cornerstone of his administration. He has declared several states of emergency and recently mobilized over 10,000 soldiers to the country's three most violent provinces in a push to tackle organized crime in the Andean nation. The government has said turf wars between splintered gangs caused murder rates to soar 30% last year.

Ecuador also militarized the city of San Lorenzo, in the border area with Colombia, at the end of last year due to violent clashes between criminal groups there.

'COMPLETE WAR'

Speaking at Davos on Tuesday, Noboa said his nation was fighting "a complete war against evil and narco-terrorism."

Noboa said Ecuador had not received "any cooperation" and cited an annual trade deficit exceeding $1 billion. The deficit in the first 10 months of last year totaled $838 million, according to Ecuador's central bank.

Colombia shipped $1.67 billion worth of goods to Ecuador in the first 11 months of last year, according to statistics agency DANE, representing 3.6% of total shipments.

The U.S. accounted for the largest share of Colombia's exports, making up 29.6%. This was slightly more than the 26.4% of total exports Colombia shipped to member states of ALADI, a regional bloc that brings together much of Latin America. 

Ecuador imports electrical power from Colombia, crucial in times of drought when hydroelectric dams dry up, as well as medicines and pesticides. 

The announcement of tariffs against Ecuador's larger neighbor follows implementation of a 27% tariff on imports from Mexico, Latin America's No. 2 economy, in February, shortly after the U.S. announced its own tariffs against Mexico. 

Relations between Ecuador and Mexico soured over the latter's asylum for former Vice President Jorge Glas at its embassy in Quito. Ecuador stormed the embassy in 2024, arresting Glas and handing him another lengthy prison sentence on corruption charges. 

On Tuesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro on X shared an image of Glas, who also has Colombian nationality, apparently taken from a video call from prison, saying he showed signs of psychological torture and should be freed.

Glas' lawyers maintain his innocence and say his physical health has seriously deteriorated and that he has been denied access to medicine and sunlight. REUTERS