In a statement, the ACP responded to the official message from that agency that asserted the day before that the vessels from the US were exempted from the payment of established rates for transit through the route, which meant a saving of millions of dollars a year.

According to the ACP, this entity is the only one empowered to set tolls and other fees for transiting the Panama Canal.

The announcement by U.S. authorities comes two days after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ended a tour around Panama in which he met with President José Raúl Mulino and ACP Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez.

The ACP added in its report that with absolute responsibility it is willing to establish a dialogue with the relevant US officials regarding the transit of its warships.

Since last December, President Donald Trump claimed that tolls on the waterway were exorbitant and that US Navy vessels were not being treated well in the Canal.

He has also repeatedly claimed that Panama has ceded control of the canal to China, something denied by the rulers of each of those nations.

For his part, the head of state has explained that tariffs are not a whim and are set publicly and in open hearing, considering market conditions, international competition, operating costs and maintenance and modernization needs.

However, Trump indicated last Monday that he was not satisfied with what was agreed after the meeting between Rubio and Mulino and announced a telephone conversation with his Panamanian counterpart for tomorrow afternoon.

If confirmed, this new concession, denounced by the popular movements that demand Mulino’s resignation for treason, is added to the cancellation of the Silk Road agreement with China and the delivery of the Nicanor airstrip in Meteti, in the Darien jungle, for irregular migrants of other nationalities to be deported from the United States.

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