Secretary Rubio Hails Panama Canal Visit After Calling for ‘Immediate Changes’
- Panama becomes the first Latin American country to leave China's Belt and Road Initiative after Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s first visit to Panama yielded some concessions amid President Donald Trump’s concerns of alleged Chinese influence over the Panama Canal.
After meeting with Rubio on Sunday, Panama President José Raúl Mulino confirmed that the country will not renew its participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative , making Panama the first Latin American country to leave the foreign infrastructure investment program. Panama had first entered the initiative in 2018.
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Mulino added that his government will evaluate whether to exit the current agreement before the deal ends in 2026.
In a statement on X Monday, Rubio expressed his elation with the announcement, calling it “a great step forward for U.S.-Panama relations” and “a free Panama Canal.”
Coinciding with the Rubio-Mulino meeting, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) indicated that it intends to “optimize transit priority” of U.S. Navy vessels sailing through the canal in its own Sunday statement.
Since December, Trump has stated his desire to “take back” the canal from Panama, repeating that the country has violated the Panama Canal Treaty and Neutrality Treaty first signed in September 1977 during the Carter administration. That deal resulted in the transfer of the canal to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999 and guarantees that the waterway would remain neutral and open to all ships from all countries.
From the logistics standpoint, the canal is a significant artery for cargo being shipped via ocean freight—particularly for U.S. importers and exporters.
The Panama Canal hosts an estimated 5 percent of global trade, according to the ACP. More than 76 percent of the cargo that goes through the canal originates or is destined for the U.S.
The canal accounts for 46 percent of the total market share of containers moving from Northeast Asia to the U.S. East Coast, according to the Department of Commerce.
“Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the Treaty,” said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce in a statement.
Mulino told reporters after the meeting that Rubio made “no real threat of retaking the canal or the use of force.”
Bruce called the discussion “productive” in her statement, indicating that Secretary Rubio emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts curb illegal immigration. According to Bruce, Rubio thanked Mulino for his support of a joint repatriation program that resulted in 42 percent fewer migrants crossing the Darien Gap from Colombia into Panama in 2024.
After Sunday’s meeting between Rubio and Mulino, President Trump again reiterated his unsubstantiated claims that China is running the Panama Canal, saying “we’re going to take it back, or something very powerful is going to happen.” Trump also had bemoaned that American ships are being overcharged to traverse the canal, a claim the ACP has denied.
Rubio previously echoed Trump’s concerns of Chinese influence during his confirmation hearing as Secretary of State, identifying Hong Kong-based port operator CK Hutchison Holdings as a potential “national security and defense problem.”
A Hutchison subsidiary, Panama Ports Company, operates Panama’s ports of Cristobal and Balboa, both of which are adjacent to the canal. Rubio’s concerns about Hutchison, which oversees 53 ports in 24 countries, stem from the fact that the firm remains subject to Chinese state oversight under the country’s broadly defined national security law .
“A foreign power today possesses, through their companies, which we know are not independent, the ability to turn the canal into a chokepoint in a moment of conflict,” Rubio said at his confirmation.
Late in January, Panama opened an audit into Hutchison’s subsidiary, Panama Ports Company, in the wake of Trump’s escalating rhetoric.
One of the president’s chief allies in Congress, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), backed both Trump and Rubio during a Senate hearing Thursday.
“Chinese companies are building a bridge across the canal…and control container ports at either end,” Cruz said. “The partially completed bridge gives China the ability to block the canal without warning, and the ports give China ready observation posts to time that action. This situation poses acute risks to U.S. national security.”
The bridge refers to a $1.3 billion project being built by China’s state-owned firms China Communications Construction Company and China Harbour Engineering Company.
Rubio’s visit to Panama is part of a wider visit to various Latin American countries, including Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. The trip marks the Secretary of State’s first international trip as the top U.S. diplomat.
