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Ecuador has slapped 50% tariffs on Colombian imports, threatened to cut electricity sales, and hiked pipeline transit fees by 900%. With $2.8 billion in bilateral trade at risk, Colombian products are getting more expensive and de-escalation talks are just beginning.
Three diplomatic developments in a single week: Ecuador ratified a cooperation treaty with Europol on March 26, expelled the Cuban ambassador without explanation in early March, and hosted U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on March 25-26.
Ecuadorian soldiers stormed a clandestine jungle base in Esmeraldas province at dawn on February 17, capturing the Colombian leader of an Oliver Sinisterra Front cell and ten Ecuadorian members — the same FARC splinter group that kidnapped and murdered El Comercio journalists in 2018.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar is visiting Ecuador as part of a broader Latin American diplomatic push, with negotiations beginning on a trade agreement and expanded security cooperation including surveillance technology and agricultural innovation.
What started as a tariff dispute has spiraled into a full trade war between neighbors. Ecuador slapped 30% duties on Colombian imports; Colombia responded by suspending electricity sales and threatening counter-tariffs on 23 Ecuadorian products. The pipeline tariff jumped from $3 to $30 per barrel.
A high-level Colombian delegation arrives in Quito today for emergency talks aimed at resolving the reciprocal 30% tariff war that has brought bilateral trade to a near standstill and suspended Colombian electricity exports.
