LatinNews Daily - 11 May 2026

*The Andean Community (CAN) trade bloc has issued a series of resolutions ordering Ecuador and Colombia to lift the tariffs they have imposed on each other since January. The resolutions, issued on 7 May, give Colombia and Ecuador 10 days to end the tariffs, which the CAN said violate the bloc’s founding 1969 Cartagena Agreement. The CAN’s secretary general, Peru’s Gonzalo Gutiérrez Reinel, had previously issued a statement on 28 April warning that the trade war had caused a 70% drop in bilateral trade between Colombia and Ecuador and has resulted in losses exceeding US$340m, with over 2,600 Colombian companies and 2,000 Ecuadorean companies affected. Gutiérrez added that smuggling along the route between Ipiales (in Colombia’s Nariño department) and Tulcán (in Ecuador’s Carchi province) is believed to have increased by 70% due to the tariffs. Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa launched the trade war on 21 January, accusing Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro of failing to ensure security in the border region. Ecuador is currently charging a tariff of 100% on Colombian goods, although it has said that this will be lowered to 75% from 1 June. Colombia, meanwhile, has announced varying tariffs of 35%, 50%, and 75% on 191 Ecuadorean products.

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