Ecuador Security Tax on Colombian Imports to Take Effect Next Month
Noboa said the measure responds to what he described as Colombia’s failure to act jointly against drug trafficking and illegal mining along the frontier. The announcement follows heightened diplomatic strains, including remarks by Colombian President Gustavo Petro urging the release of former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, jailed on corruption charges.
On X, Noboa wrote that Quito has made “significant efforts to cooperate with Colombia,” despite carrying an annual trade deficit exceeding $1 billion. He added that Ecuador’s military continues to fight criminal groups at the border “without any cooperation” from Colombia, framing the tariff as leverage to secure concrete commitments.
“This measure will remain in effect until there is a genuine commitment to jointly confront drug trafficking and illegal mining on the border, with the same seriousness and determination that Ecuador is demonstrating today,” Noboa said.
Petro responded late Wednesday on X, pledging that Colombia would act “in accordance with the principles of reciprocity.”
Glas, who holds dual Ecuadorian and Colombian nationality, is serving an eight-year sentence tied to a 2012–2016 bribery case. In his post, Petro referred to Glas as the “Vice President of the Republic of Ecuador” and likened his situation to political prisoners in Venezuela and Nicaragua, alleging Glas’s health showed signs of “psychological torture.”
The tariff threatens to destabilize a crucial trade corridor. Colombia remains one of Ecuador’s largest partners in the Andean region, supplying industrial goods, food staples, and consumer products.
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