The Panama Canal Authority late on Wednesday denied the State Department’s claim that it had agreed to a deal to allow U.S. vessels to pass through the canal without paying any toll or fees, a comment amid threats by President Donald Trump of the U.S. retaking control of the critical waterway.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) talks to Panama Canal Authority Administrator Ricaurte ... [+]
In a post on X on Wednesday evening, the State Department announced that the government of Panama has “agreed to no longer charge fees for U.S. government vessels to transit the Panama Canal.”
The post also claimed this move would save the U.S. government “millions of dollars a year.”
A few hours later, the canal authority responded, saying it is “empowered to set tolls for vessels transiting the canal” and has “not made any adjustments to these fees.”
The canal authority added that it has indicated to the U.S. government that it is “establish a dialogue with the pertinent officials” on the passage of U.S. warships through the waterway.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the canal authority mentioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to the canal, his meeting with the agency’s Administrator Ricaurte Vasquez and their “willingness” for dialog.
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In an interview with Fox News earlier this week, Rubio said “My hope ultimately is that we can get back to a point where that canal is what it was meant to be, which is a place for the United States and Panama working in partnership… and that no foreign power through their companies or any other means has the ability to use it against us in a time of conflict and impede travel through it, because it would be devastating.”