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President-elect Trump launched a controversy against it Panama Canal Tolls Saturday, claims that the United States is being destroyed by high prices.
In a social media post, Trump complained at length about the fees charged to American ships Big ditch Panama Canal tolls range from three to six figures depending on the size of a ship and the amount of cargo it carries, with the largest ships charging $500,000.
Trump wrote in his post: “The Panama Canal is considered a vital national asset for the United States because of its important role for the economy and national security of the United States.” A secure Panama Canal is critical to U.S. trade and the rapid deployment of naval forces from the Atlantic to the Pacific, greatly reducing transit times to U.S. ports.
The incoming president criticized former President Carter, who Trump said “stupidly gave it away for a dollar.” In 1977, Carter signed the Panama Canal Treaty, which phased out US control of the canal until 1999.
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President-elect Trump spoke the truth about the Panama Canal casualties in a social media post on Saturday. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
Carter also signed the Neutrality Pact, which guaranteed that tariffs would be equal for all countries. Trump has implied that the United States should be given preferential treatment in his post.
“Our navy and commerce have been treated in a most unfair and unjust manner,” the president-elect said. The fees that Panama charges are ridiculous, especially considering the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed upon Panama by the United States.
Trump also floated the idea of asking for the canal's ownership to return to the United States if American ships are not treated fairly.
Trump concluded: “(The Panama Canal) was not for the benefit of others, it was simply a sign of cooperation with us and Panama. “If the moral and legal principles of this magnanimous gesture are not respected, we will demand the full and unequivocal return of the Panama Canal to us.
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A cargo ship and tugboat pass through the Cocoli Locks on the Panama Canal in Panama on August 12, 2024. (Arnolfo Franco/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
To the Panamanian authorities, please advise accordingly!
Trump also noted that the canal was built at huge cost to the United States, although he falsely claimed that 38,000 Americans died during its construction. The National Institute of Health estimates that the number of people who died while working during the construction of this canal in the United States was about 5,600.
It is not clear how many of the dead were American because a large portion of the workforce was recruited from the Caribbean. The Trumpet probably includes some 22,000 workers who died while the French were trying to build the canal in the 1880s.
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In an aerial view, a ship prepares to pass through the Aqua Clara locks at the entrance to the Panama Canal on September 20, 2023 in Colon, Panama. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Account X of the Ministry of Government Efficiency recently claimed The Panama Canal cost US taxpayers $15.7 billion. The US government does not subsidize this channel. Ships passing through it pay tolls.