Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that the country will eliminate all tariffs on imports from Ecuador, despite the fact that Ecuador maintains a 100% levy on Colombian products. The measure, which breaks with the initial response of his own government, marks a shift amid growing trade tensions between the two neighbors.
The decision means that Colombia is, for now, abandoning a strategy of direct retaliation and opting for a unilateral path. While Ecuador maintains its tariff policy at least until May 1, the Colombian government is seeking to avoid a domestic impact on prices and supply, even at the cost of maintaining a temporary imbalance in bilateral trade.
These statements were made during a special Cabinet meeting held yesterday, Monday, April 13, in the border city of Ipiales, focused on the crisis in relations with Ecuador and insecurity along the southern border.
Related: Petro Threatens to Oust Colombia’s Mayors Over Property Tax Protests.
Colombia’s Petro announces zero tariffs on products from Ecuador
The change in direction came after the Colombian government itself had approved a mirror tariff increase, also to 100%, as an immediate response to Ecuador’s measure. However, the president overruled that approach and ordered it to be dismantled, marking a clear departure from the initial policy of his economic team.
The instruction, given yesterday Monday at the Cabinet meeting held in the border city of Ipiales, was specific: to allow tariff-free entry for Ecuadorian products deemed necessary for the Colombian economy. With this, the government aims to prevent trade tensions from translating into higher prices for key goods or supply difficulties in sensitive sectors.
“There are no 100% tariffs, Minister of Trade, we are not that ignorant. Everything that is necessary for Colombia, 0%, comes in,” the Colombian president said during yesterday’s extraordinary session. Petro added that “everything that is produced in Colombia, but that we used to import from Ecuador, is produced in Colombia.”
For the Colombian president, it is clear that “foreigners, toward Ecuador and Colombia, want to divide us and have us kill each other, and we will not fall into that trap,” and he explained: “Because if we divide, we lose the power that Bolivar announced and that still exists today.”
Desde Ipiales, el Presidente @petrogustavo afirmó que cerrar la frontera y frenar el comercio legal es “entregarle la frontera a la mafia”. Señaló que destruir la economía formal no detiene el narcotráfico, sino que fortalece el contrabando y a los grupos ilegales.
Insistió en… pic.twitter.com/3IBN8C4EvB
— Presidencia Colombia 🇨🇴 (@infopresidencia) April 14, 2026
A turning point in the tariff war initiated by Ecuador
Petro’s message suggests that a generalized tariff war does not benefit Colombia. According to his approach, imposing similar barriers would end up directly affecting consumers and local industry by raising the cost of inputs and final products.
Behind the decision is a clear economic calculation. Colombia maintains a trade relationship in which its exports to Ecuador carry significant weight, so a prolonged escalation could end up hitting domestic producers harder.
At the same time, the government seeks to contain inflationary pressures. Many sectors depend on imported inputs or regional supply chains, so an increase in tariffs would quickly be passed on to prices. Avoiding that effect becomes a priority in an already demanding economic context.
This is compounded by a political dimension. Petro has argued that the response should not be automatic or symmetrical, but rather aimed at protecting domestic interests. In that logic, he proposes diversifying export markets and reducing dependence on external decisions that could affect the national economy.
The president has also warned about the collateral effects of extreme measures, such as the increase in smuggling in border areas. In his view, high tariffs encourage illegal circuits that ultimately weaken state control and affect security in already complex regions.
Subsidies and protection of the domestic market
In parallel with the elimination of tariffs, the president ordered the design of a subsidy system for products considered essential. The instruction is aimed at cushioning any negative impact resulting from the trade distortion with Ecuador.
In this regard, Gustavo Petro acknowledged that food production could be affected by the 100% tariffs imposed by the government of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, as well as by rising interest rates from Colombia’s central bank (Banco de la Republica). He told Agriculture Minister Martha Carvajalino that subsidies for agricultural products must be implemented to prevent increases in food prices.
Likewise, he stated that if necessary he would declare a “state of internal disturbance” in several areas of the country, noting: “Let a magistrate strike it down later, but we act,” considering that “this is an emergency. We are here fighting for the poor and working people, and for business owners who work and produce.”
All of this is intended to prevent the rise in import costs. To that end, the State will intervene to maintain or reduce domestic prices. This includes basic goods as well as strategic inputs for productive sectors that could be affected by the situation.
The strategy seeks to balance openness with protection mechanisms. Petro has insisted that the role of the State should focus on guaranteeing access to essential goods, preventing external tensions from translating into a deterioration of the population’s purchasing power.
Within that approach, the government does not rule out applying selective measures in specific sectors if necessary, while avoiding a generalized tariff scheme that could end up affecting the entire economy.
A crisis that remains unresolved due to border security
Despite Colombia’s shift, the trade dispute with Ecuador remains unresolved. The decision to maintain 100% tariffs responds to factors that go beyond the economic sphere and include political and security tensions between the two countries.
The crisis began with criticism from the government in Quito regarding security along the Colombia–Ecuador border, stemming from differing approaches between the two countries on how to confront drug trafficking. In response, President Petro ordered the establishment of a “border occupation zone, including the jungle” and recalled that “I requested a high-generation radar here and the Civil Aeronautics Authority did not comply, in case planes involved in drug trafficking pass through.”
In a firm defense of his anti-drug policy, Gustavo Petro ordered the sea to be monitored “day and night” with the radar he announced would be installed, “but not to fire missiles at boats, because here we know how to stop a boat without killing anyone.”
In this regard, he noted that with “that is the military action at the border (…) we teach the Ecuadorians how it is done, how ports are protected.”
For now, however, differences between Ecuador and Colombia remain at a peak and, far from easing just weeks before the Colombian presidential elections, pressures on both sides of the border are expected to continue while awaiting electoral results that will determine Colombia’s political future for the 2026–2030 period.