"They gave it to them for $1 and then they charge more for our ships. It's not going to happen. And China's running the Panama Canal. That's not going to happen either," Trump said, TASS reported.
Earlier, the president-elect said that the US could regain control of the Panama Canal if the current terms of its use are not renegotiated. He criticized the high tariffs charged for transit through the canal and insisted that relinquishing control of the canal in 1999 was a gesture of cooperation, not a concession to other countries. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said sovereignty over the canal and the country's independence could not be negotiated.
The Panama Canal, commissioned in 1914, was built by the United States and has been under its control. In 1977, the Torrijos-Carter Treaties established the gradual transfer of the canal to Panama, which was completed in 1999. The treaty established the neutrality of the canal and its accessibility to world trade. Today, it remains a critical route for the global economy and one of the key targets of US interests.