U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was forced to backtrack on a false claim he made about Panama allowing American ships to transit its canal for free. Initially, Rubio stated that the Panama government would waive fees for U.S. vessels, a claim that was quickly shot down by Panama’s government.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of State had issued a statement announcing that Panama had “agreed to no longer charge fees for U.S. government vessels to transit the Panama Canal.” However, Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, swiftly accused Rubio of spreading “lies and falsehoods,” condemning the statement as “simply and plainly intolerable.”
By Friday, Rubio had changed his stance, admitting the U.S. had only “expectations” that Panama would stop charging for canal use, not a confirmed agreement. “Those are our expectations. They were clear. They were clearly understood in those conversations,” Rubio clarified.
Rubio had previously argued, “I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obliged to protect in a time of conflict.”
The 51-mile-long (82km) Panama Canal, built by the United States in the early 1900s, connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Though the U.S. handed control of the canal to Panama in the 1990s, under agreements made in the late 1970s, all vessels—including U.S. ships—are required to pay a toll based on their size and type. However, U.S. ships have priority passage.
Mulino responded angrily, noting that U.S. government vessels, including navy ships, pay around “$6-7m [£4.8-5.6m] a year” for passage, dismissing the notion that such fees pose any significant financial strain on the United States. “It’s not as if the canal toll is breaking the economy of the United States,” he added.
The Panama Canal Authority, which manages the waterway, also denied any changes to the toll system, emphasizing that it had not made any adjustments to fees. The authority did express openness to dialogue.
The incident mirrors previous tensions, including remarks from former President Donald Trump. Last year, Trump criticized Panama on Truth Social, accusing the country of “ripping off” the U.S. He stated, “Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way,” and added, “The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US.”
Additionally, the Trump administration had raised concerns about China potentially closing the canal to the U.S. in a crisis, a fear that both Panama and China strongly denied. China’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Lin Jian, reiterated that the partnership with Panama was yielding “fruitful results” and urged the country to “resist external interferences.”
