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Trade Turbulence: Ecuador-Colombia Tensions Soar Amid Tariff Battle
Ecuador increased tariffs to 50% due to border insecurity involving 750 violent incidents since 2023, citing Colombia's failure to control armed groups and organized crime.
- Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa imposed tariffs on Colombian goods, citing Bogotá's failure to tackle organized crime, and the tariff is set to rise to 50 percent in March with reciprocal measures from Colombia.
- ACLED reported that security has deteriorated in recent months, recording 750 violent incidents and identifying 11 Ecuadorian and eight Colombian armed groups in the border region.
- Church leaders and local priests warned that recorded killings and prison deaths underscore policy failure, with Cardinal Luis Cabrera of Guayaquil standing united with bishops in a Feb. 15 letter.
- Southern Colombia's economy, long tied to drugs, is now in crisis as President Gustavo Petro's policy arrested buyers, leaving local farmers without markets and fueling urban synthetic drug growth.
- They demanded coordinated action by the government and social organizations on health care, education, and employment, urging the sister Churches of Ecuador and Colombia to revive cross-border pastoral ministry, as bishops called for shared efforts to build peace.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Bishops to launch initiatives against violence on Ecuador-Colombia border
SÃO PAULO, Brazil – As the governments of Ecuador and Colombia intensify a tariff dispute over border security, the security situation in northern Ecuador and southern Colombia has deteriorated in recent months, with growing clashes among armed groups operating on both sides of the border. Drug cartels, left-wing guerrillas, and illegal mining groups have taken control of vast territories. The Church in both countries is expressing concern about…
The National Customs Service of Ecuador (Senae) issued the resolution to update from this Sunday, March 1, 2026, the rate of security for imports from and originating in Colombia at 50 %.
Quito. One day after the Ecuadorian government announced a 50 per cent tariff increase on Colombian products exported to its neighbor, Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, formalized the reciprocal response, in the same percentage since March 1, thus exacerbating the trade war between the two Andean countries compromising the economic dynamics in the border zone.
The government of Daniel Noboa will raise the tariff to imports from Colombia from 30% to 50%, considering that Bogotá has not implemented "concrete and effective" measures to combat organized crime on the common border, as announced by the Ministry of Production, on Thursday 26 February, in its X account. The measure, which escalates the trade war between the two neighbouring countries, will enter into force on 1 March and has taken everyone by…
Colombia confirmed that it will not only adjust the levies to the current 73 subheadings, but also evaluates the inclusion of new items to protect domestic production affected by Ecuador's economic decisions.
Noboa defended the increase to 50% of the price on Colombian imports
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