BOGOTA, April 13 (Reuters) - Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday said his country would not impose 100% tariffs on imports from Ecuador, reversing an announcement made last week by the trade ministry.
Instead, Petro said Colombia would introduce subsidies and what he described as "smart" tariffs, without providing further details.
"There are no 100% tariffs, trade minister, we are not that stupid," Petro said during a televised cabinet meeting. "Everything that is necessary for Colombia, 0%, it comes in."
Last week, Ecuador said it would raise tariffs on imports from Colombia to 100% starting in May, citing what it called Colombia's failure to implement concrete and effective security measures along their shared border.
Following the announcement, Colombia's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism said it would raise tariffs on imports from Ecuador to 100% from 30% at present, amid mounting diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
"Everything that is produced in Colombia but was being imported from Ecuador should be produced in Colombia, with subsidies from the Agriculture Ministry so it can be cheaper," Petro said. "Everything produced in Colombia that cannot be exported to Ecuador because of the tariff should be exported to Venezuela, where it is needed."
The trade dispute between the two countries began in January, when the government of Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa imposed a 30% tariff on imports from Colombia. Petro's government responded with a similar measure and also suspended electricity sales to the country.
Noboa justified the successive tariff increases by pointing to Ecuador's trade deficit with Colombia and what he called a lack of cooperation from Bogota in combating drug trafficking along the shared border, where illegal armed groups operate, including leftist guerrillas involved in drug trafficking and illegal gold mining.
Petro rejected the accusations, saying Colombia has maintained operations against drug trafficking and illegal armed groups along the border, as shown by cocaine seizures.
Colombia posted a trade surplus of $1.016 billion with Ecuador in 2025, with exports of $1.847 billion and imports of $830.1 million, according to DANE, Colombia's statistics agency.
(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra and Carlos Vargas; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Thomas Derpinghaus)
