Panama City: The United States announced that its ships can now transit the Panama Canal without paying any fees. This decision is expected to provide significant financial savings for the US government.
According to Qatar News Agency, this new development will help “saving the US government millions of dollars a year,” as stated by the US Department of State in a brief announcement on the X platform. The news follows closely on the heels of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent visit to Panama, marking his first foreign trip since assuming office.
The issue of canal fees has been a point of contention for some time. US President Donald Trump had earlier reiterated his demand for the return of the Panama Canal to US control, expressing dissatisfaction with the fees imposed on US Navy and other government vessels using the passage.
The Panama Canal, a crucial waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, was transferred from US to Panamanian control in 1999, following a treaty signed in 1977 during President Jimmy Carter’s administration. The canal remains a vital conduit for international maritime trade, underscoring its strategic significance.