President José Raúl Mulino of Panama refuted the U.S. State Department's assertion that an agreement had been reached allowing U.S. warships to pass through the Panama Canal without fees. Mulino clarified that he cannot determine or exempt any entity from transit fees, expressing surprise at the State Department's statement.
The U.S. State Department had announced that U.S. government vessels could now transit the canal without charge, purportedly saving millions annually. However, the Panama Canal Authority promptly contradicted this claim, asserting that no fee adjustments had been made.
Mulino criticized the U.S. statement as misleading and intolerable, emphasizing that Panama's laws prohibit fee waivers. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed the importance of Panama's legal processes and the U.S. treaty obligation to safeguard the canal in times of conflict.
Rubio conveyed President Trump's concerns about China's influence in the canal region potentially violating the neutrality treaty established when the U.S. transferred control to Panama in 1999. Discussions included the possibility of granting U.S. warships priority in canal crossings, but not fee exemptions.
Since 1998, U.S. warships transited the canal nearly a thousand times, comprising a small fraction of total traffic. The canal authority collected $25.4 million in fees from these crossings, calculated based on displacement tonnage.
Mulino reiterated that Panama's constitution and Canal Authority laws prohibit fee waivers, emphasizing the constitutional constraints on such actions. The President was set to engage with President Trump to address the matter directly.
