Co-operate or else: Trump’s Colombia face-off is warning for all leaders

This is a formidable challenge for Colombia, but it is also a test for the new Trump administration.

If his sanctions lead to higher prices for US consumers will the American public object? Will they be willing to tolerate some financial pain incurred to advance Trump’s immigration priorities?

The US imports about 27% of its coffee from Colombia, according to the US Department of Agriculture, as well as other goods like bananas, crude oil, avocados and flowers. The coffee imports alone are worth nearly $2bn (£1.6bn).

Importers could shift to other sources to avoid this, which would hit Colombian producers by reducing a key market.

Colombia’s President Gustavo was quick to respond on Sunday afternoon, launching his own retaliatory strike in the war of words.

It’s no secret that Petro doesn’t like Donald Trump – he’s heavily criticised his policies on migration and the environment in the past. That just ratcheted up.

In a lengthy response on X, he said Trump would “wipe out the human species because of greed” and accused the US president of considering Colombians an “inferior race.”

Petro went on to describe himself as “stubborn” and said that while Trump could try to “carry out a coup” with “economic strength and arrogance” he would, in short, fight back.

Not only did Petro appear to threaten his own retaliatory tariffs, but most significantly he said: “From today on, Colombia is open to the entire world, with open arms.”

While Trump is unlikely to take threats from Colombia, this is something that should worry a US president who wants to tackle migration. His incoming administration officials have made clear that mission will require looking beyond the Mexico border.

Trump’s pick for deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau has long argued that “working with other countries to stop such migratory flows” must be a “global imperative of US foreign policy”. Sunday’s spat might make working together a lot less likely.

Tens of thousands of migrants every year from around the world, from India to China, head north towards the US after landing in South America and travelling up through Colombia across the Darien Gap – a key choke point just north of the Panama-Colombia border. It’s a dangerous journey usually facilitated by criminal gangs.