The president of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, has stated that the Government of the United States shows "all the willingness" to study his request to temporarily suspend the tariffs imposed on Colombian products, after a phone conversation held this Tuesday with Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
"I reiterated my request for the tariffs affecting Colombian products to be temporarily suspended. There is a procedure to achieve this and there is all the willingness on the part of the Government of the United States to advance in that purpose," he has indicated on his social networks, where he has described the exchange with Rubio as "very fruitful."
By direct instruction from the head of State, the Minister of Commerce of Colombia, Mauricio Gómez, will travel this Tuesday to Washington to take "personal charge of this issue" and continue the negotiations with the U.S. Administration.
During the conversation, De la Espriella also expressed "all the support" received from the Government of Donald Trump after the earthquake of magnitude 7.4 that shook central and western Colombia on August 10 and has so far caused more than 300 fatalities, highlighting the "economic aid, humanitarian assistance, and rescue teams."
"I also reaffirmed our determination to strengthen the historic and transcendent alliance between Colombia and the United States. Today, more than ever, Colombia and the United States must be united," the president emphasized, recalling that his words come just days after requesting his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, to suspend "temporarily" the taxes on exports "in order to relieve the entrepreneurs" affected by the consequences of the earthquake.