Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said on Wednesday morning that United States President Donald Trump falsely claimed his administration was “reclaiming” the Panama Canal.
Trump’s comments to Congress came after a deal led by U.S. firm BlackRock was announced earlier on Tuesday to buy most of the $22.8 billion ports business of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison, which includes assets along the Panama Canal.
Trump Hails BlackRock Deal
Donald Trump praised a BlackRock-led deal to acquire most of CK Hutchison’s $22.8 billion ports business, including assets along the Panama Canal.
The deal will give the U.S. consortium control of key Panama Canal ports amid White House calls to remove them from what it claims is Chinese ownership. On the first trading day after the deal’s announcement, CK Hutchison stock soared nearly 25%.
Reclaiming Panama Canal
“My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” Trump told the United States Congress following the BlackRock-led deal.
“Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals.”
The deal with the BlackRock-led consortium includes 90% of Panama Ports Company, which has operated the Balboa and Cristobal ports at each end of the canal for over two decades, CK Hutchison said.
In total, the consortium, which includes Terminal Investment and Global Infrastructure Partners, will control 43 ports comprising 199 berths in 23 countries, the conglomerate said.
About 12,000 ships used the Panama Canal last year that connects 1,920 ports across 170 countries. Its position is strategic for the U.S. as more than three-quarters of vessels passing through originate in or are bound for the United States.
The conglomerate had been waiting for the Panama Supreme Court to make a final ruling about the legal status of its contract to operate the ports after the local attorney general determined the contract “unconstitutional.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
