Colombia US Tariffs 2026: Trump Asked to Pause 12.5% Duty

Colombia US tariffs 2026 are suddenly a live diplomatic question. On Saturday, August 15, President Abelardo De la Espriella asked Donald Trump to temporarily suspend the 12.5% US tariff on Colombian goods, citing the economic toll of the August 10 earthquake. The two spoke by phone for about ten minutes, with flowers — one of Colombia’s most tariff-exposed US exports — chief among the products at stake (CNN en Español; Infobae).

The short version: as of August 16, 2026, the US tariff on Colombian goods is 12.5%, effective July 24, 2026, up from 10% — and no suspension has been granted. What follows is a small ask with an outsized signal: barely a month into office, De la Espriella is testing how far his “friendly and cordial” rapport with Trump can bend US trade policy.

This is reporting on a fast-moving, cross-border story — every figure below is cited to its source and current only as of this writing. The tariff mechanics come from USTR’s official notice and outside trade-law analysis, not from local reporting.

What De la Espriella actually asked for

Per Infobae’s account of the call, De la Espriella described the conversation as “very friendly and cordial,” said Trump was “supremely warm” and expressed “affection for Colombia,” and thanked him for the earthquake aid and rescue-team support already sent. He then asked Trump to consider suspending the tariffs, framing it as relief for exporters facing what he called an “enormous challenge” to “rebuild Colombia amid the difficult economic situation.” No suspension has been announced — this is a request, not a decision, and neither government has published a timeline for a response.

Colombia US tariffs 2026: what the 12.5% rate covers — and what it doesn’t

The rate took effect July 24, 2026, when Washington raised its tariff on Colombian goods from 10% to 12.5% (La República). Most of the goods now facing that duty, flowers included, normally enter the US tariff-free under the 2012 US-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (USTR; CBP) — which is why a stacked 12.5% is a real cost shock rather than a rounding error on an existing tariff. Here’s what’s actually in scope, per Portafolio and Colombia One:

Subject to the 12.5% tariff	Explicitly excluded
Cut flowers	Coffee
Apparel and textiles	Bananas
Candy and chocolate	Crude oil
Cosmetics and other manufactured goods	Coal

Cut flowers are the sector with the most on the line: the US buys about 80% of Colombia’s flower exports by value, and the sector supports more than 240,000 jobs nationwide, about 60% of them held by women, according to industry group Asocolflores — which is why growers have fought the increase since it was proposed (El Tiempo; HSB Radio; Floral Daily).

How the 12.5% rate actually works

This isn’t a Colombia-specific penalty. It’s Colombia’s slice of a much broader action: on July 23, 2026, the USTR imposed new duties on 60 US trading partners after finding each had failed to effectively enforce prohibitions on imports made with forced labor. The tariffs took effect at 12:01 a.m. on July 24, 2026, replacing an expiring 10% global surcharge. For Colombia’s tier specifically, the duty stacks on top of ordinary rates rather than replacing them; a few economies in the action, including Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland, instead got their 12.5% applied net of existing duties (USTR; Honigman).

Seventeen of the 60 economies — including Ecuador — qualified for the lower 10% rate. Mexico is also on that 17-economy list, though most Mexican goods separately qualify for full exemption under USMCA regardless of this action. Colombia was not among the 17, so it falls into the 12.5% default tier that applies to every other investigated economy.

The competitive gap this creates: Colombia’s 12.5% vs. Ecuador’s 10%. Because Ecuador sits in the lower tier, its roses and carnations — direct competitors with Colombian stems in the same US market — carry 2.5 points less duty than Colombian flowers under the same trade action. That’s an inference from the tier split itself rather than a comparison USTR states outright, but the math is straightforward.

Why the timing lines up: aid, then an ask

The request lands three days after Washington announced a fresh $11 million in earthquake relief on August 14. The package covers food, medical supplies, shelter, Starlink kits, and structural assessments, bringing total US assistance since the quake to roughly $26.5 million, according to the State Department and El Colombiano.

The quake, centered near San José del Palmar in Chocó, had killed at least 294 people as of August 15, per the UNGRD’s official balance reported by El Tiempo. We’ve tracked these figures since the national disaster declaration took effect the same day, and they continue to move as search-and-rescue work goes on. Asking Washington to ease a trade cost days after expanding disaster aid is a low-risk way for a month-old government to test the relationship without spending capital on a harder renegotiation.

What it means for the peso and your prices

Nothing has changed yet — the tariff is still 12.5%, and no suspension is confirmed. But it’s worth sitting next to a currency story we’ve covered all month: the peso is on one of its strongest runs in years, with the TRM (Colombia’s official dollar reference rate) certified at COP 3,128.65 for August 15–18, 2026 (Colombia.com).

That’s near a seven-year low for the dollar, a level Colombian financial press had already flagged earlier in the month (Infobae). A strong peso already squeezes exporters by making their goods pricier in dollar terms. That’s the dynamic behind Banco de la República’s dollar-purchase program, the central bank’s own effort to slow the peso’s rise by buying dollars on the open market.

The 12.5% tariff stacks directly on top of that for flower growers. A suspension would ease one cost pressure on an export sector already fighting the exchange rate. But it wouldn’t touch what foreign residents feel day to day: Medellín’s own inflation. That’s driven by housing and restaurant prices, not import tariffs.

Frequently asked questions

Has the US suspended tariffs on Colombia?

No. As of August 16, 2026, the 12.5% tariff remains in effect. President De la Espriella asked Trump to suspend it during their August 15 phone call, but neither the White House nor USTR has confirmed a suspension, a timeline, or terms.

What is the current US tariff rate on Colombian goods?

12.5%, effective July 24, 2026, up from 10% (USTR; La República). It’s part of a broader Section 301 forced-labor tariff action covering 60 trading partners, not a Colombia-only measure.

Which Colombian exports are exempt?

Coffee, bananas, oil, and coal are explicitly excluded from the 12.5% tariff (Portafolio; Colombia One). Cut flowers are not exempt. Crude oil, Colombia’s single largest export to the US by value, is excluded, which rules out the top spot; gold ranks second by value (about $192 million in April 2026 data) but its status under the tariff’s forced-labor annex could not be verified, so it’s unclear whether gold is exempt too. What’s certain is that flowers are among — not necessarily atop — the largest Colombian exports actually subject to the tariff (OEC; La República).

The bottom line: a request, not a policy

As of August 16, 2026, this is a request, not a policy. De la Espriella asked for a temporary suspension on a ten-minute call; the public record so far is warm language from the Colombian side, with no confirmation from the White House or USTR of a suspension, timeline, or terms. If it happens, flower exporters get relief on a tariff compounding an already-strong peso; if not, the 12.5% rate stands. Either way, it’s an early signal of how this government will manage the US relationship, worth watching alongside the $1 billion security aid package announced earlier this month.