Colombia and Ecuador have escalated a trade war to 100 percent tariffs on each other's imports as of May 2026, following Ecuador's progressive increases from 30 percent in January to 50 percent in March. The dispute intensifies amid broader tensions between right-wing Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who joined Trump's Shield of the Americas coalition, and left-wing Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who champions negotiations with criminal networks through his Total Peace policy. Ecuador justifies the tariffs as necessary to combat border drug trafficking, while Colombia suspended vital cross-border energy sales and Petro declared the end of the Andean Pact for Colombia, directing his government to pursue Mercosur membership instead. The conflict deepened after Ecuador recalled its ambassador over Petro calling Jorge Glas a political prisoner, following Noboa's controversial embassy raid to arrest the former vice president.
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