TRUMP MERCANTILISM
Panama City (AFP) – Hong Kong firm Hutchinson sold its Panama Canal ports to US company BlackRock after US President Donald Trump's refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to retake control of its strategic canal, which Trump says China controls.
Issued on: 04/03/2025 -
By:FRANCE 24
US President Donald Trump has refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to regain control of the canal © MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP
Under fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump, Hong Kong firm Hutchison said Tuesday it had agreed to sell its lucrative Panama Canal ports to a US-led consortium.
CK Hutchison Holdings said it would offload a 90-percent stake in the Panama Ports Company (PPC) and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports to a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock.
The sellers will receive $19 billion in cash, the company said in a statement.
Hutchison subsidiary PPC has for decades run ports at Balboa and Cristobal on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the interoceanic waterway.
But since taking office in January, Trump has complained that China controls the canal -- a vital strategic asset that the United States once ran.
Read moreThe Chinese interests behind Trump’s Panama Canal bluster
Trump refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to regain control, sparking angry protests and a complaint to the United Nations by the Central American nation.
In a joint press release with the buyers, Hutchison said the deal was motivated by business, not politics.
"I would like to stress that the transaction is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports," co-managing director Frank Sixt said.
"This transaction is the result of a rapid, discrete but competitive process in which numerous bids and expressions of interest were received," said Sixt, who described the chosen agreement as "clearly in the best interests of shareholders."
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the transaction demonstrated his consortium's capacity to "deliver differentiated investments for clients."
"These world-class ports facilitate global growth," he added.
The Panamanian government, for its part, said the sale was "a global transaction, between private companies, driven by mutual interests."
It added that an audit launched into the PPC by the Panamanian comptroller's office that oversees public entities will continue in spite of the sale.
43 ports
The deal entails 43 ports comprising 199 berths in 23 countries.
CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong's largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics.
It is owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.
In February, Marco Rubio visited Panama on his first overseas trip as secretary of state, proof of the canal's importance to the new administration.
Rubio won a commitment from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino to exit the Belt and Road Initiative, China's signature infrastructure-building program.
He also pressed for free passage of US vessels through the Panama Canal, which was denied.
Since 1999, the canal has been run by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) -- an autonomous entity whose board of directors is appointed by Panama's president and National Assembly.
The 80-kilometer (50-mile) long canal handles five percent of global maritime trade, and 40 percent of US container traffic.
Beijing has consistently denied interfering in the canal.
(AFP)
Under fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump, Hong Kong firm Hutchison said Tuesday it had agreed to sell its lucrative Panama Canal ports to a US-led consortium.
CK Hutchison Holdings said it would offload a 90-percent stake in the Panama Ports Company (PPC) and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports to a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock.
The sellers will receive $19 billion in cash, the company said in a statement.
Hutchison subsidiary PPC has for decades run ports at Balboa and Cristobal on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the interoceanic waterway.
But since taking office in January, Trump has complained that China controls the canal -- a vital strategic asset that the United States once ran.
Read moreThe Chinese interests behind Trump’s Panama Canal bluster
Trump refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to regain control, sparking angry protests and a complaint to the United Nations by the Central American nation.
In a joint press release with the buyers, Hutchison said the deal was motivated by business, not politics.
"I would like to stress that the transaction is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports," co-managing director Frank Sixt said.
"This transaction is the result of a rapid, discrete but competitive process in which numerous bids and expressions of interest were received," said Sixt, who described the chosen agreement as "clearly in the best interests of shareholders."
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the transaction demonstrated his consortium's capacity to "deliver differentiated investments for clients."
"These world-class ports facilitate global growth," he added.
The Panamanian government, for its part, said the sale was "a global transaction, between private companies, driven by mutual interests."
It added that an audit launched into the PPC by the Panamanian comptroller's office that oversees public entities will continue in spite of the sale.
43 ports
The deal entails 43 ports comprising 199 berths in 23 countries.
CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong's largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics.
It is owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.
In February, Marco Rubio visited Panama on his first overseas trip as secretary of state, proof of the canal's importance to the new administration.
Rubio won a commitment from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino to exit the Belt and Road Initiative, China's signature infrastructure-building program.
He also pressed for free passage of US vessels through the Panama Canal, which was denied.
Since 1999, the canal has been run by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) -- an autonomous entity whose board of directors is appointed by Panama's president and National Assembly.
The 80-kilometer (50-mile) long canal handles five percent of global maritime trade, and 40 percent of US container traffic.
Beijing has consistently denied interfering in the canal.
(AFP)
Ports sale offers Panama way out of Trump row: experts
By AFP
March 4, 2025
Under fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump, Hong Kong firm Hutchison has agreed to sale two ports it operates at the entrance to the Panama Canal to a US-led consortium - Copyright AFP Pedro Pardo
Juan José Rodríguez
The decision by Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison to sell its Panama ports to a US-led consortium provides the Central American country with a convenient way out of its standoff with President Donald Trump, experts said Tuesday.
Trump has been fixated on the question of who controls shipping in the Panama Canal, which was built by Washington over a century ago to link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and later handed over to Panama.
The Republican leader has repeatedly threatened the use of force to seize the canal, claiming that Hutchison’s ownership of two ports, one at either entrance to the canal, gave China control over the strategic waterway which links the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Panama rejected the claim that China had de facto control over the canal, which handles 40 percent of US container traffic, while taking various actions to appease Trump.
Its campaign to dodge his fury received a major boost on Tuesday with Hutchison’s announcement that it would offload its ports to a group led by giant US asset manager BlackRock.
The sale offers Panama “a way out of the diplomatic crisis without needing to cancel (Hutchison’s) concession, which would further damage the investment climate in Panama,” Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America program at the Washington based Wilson Center think tank told AFP.
Panama’s government insisted that it had no hand in Hutchison’s sale, insisting it was a deal “between private companies.”
Frank Sixt, co-managing director of CK Hutchison, also argued that the deal was “purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports.”
But analysts said it came as a relief nonetheless for President Jose Raul Mulino, who had been under fierce pressure to reduce China’s footprint in the country, without riling the second-largest user of the canal after the United States.
In January, his government ordered an audit of Hutchison’s Panamanian subsidiary, Panama Ports, in what was seen as a shot across the bow at the group owned by businessman Li Ka-shing, one of Asia’s richest men.
In the end, one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates decided itself to bow to Trump’s pressure.
“In the Trump era, business is the new geopolitics,” Sabrina Bacal, a Panamanian political scientist, told AFP.
– ‘Taking back’ the canal –
In his inauguration speech on January 20, Trump declared the United States was “taking back” the Panama Canal, claiming China operated it.
On a visit to Panama two weeks later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued Mulino with an ultimatum to immediately reduce Chinese influence on the canal or face unspecified “measures.”
Panama sought desperately to appease the Trump administration by first pulling out of China’s massive Belt and Road infrastructure program and then offering to act as a beachhead for Trump’s mass migrant deportations.
Panamanian authorities also began piling pressure on Hutchison, which handled 39 percent of the containers that passed through Panamanian docks in 2024, according to the Panamanian Maritime Authority.
The country’s Supreme Court agreed to consider two requests to annul the ports concession granted to Hutchison, which Panama’s attorney general claimed was unconstitutional.
The concession was first awarded in 1997 and extended for 25 years in 2021.
While Hutchison’s sale of the ports is expected to silence Trump’s criticism of Chinese involvement in the canal, he could however continue to complain that US vessels are being overcharged to use the waterway.
Last month, the US State Department claimed that Panama had agreed to let US naval vessels through for free — a claim denied by the Panama Canal Authority, the independent agency that runs the shipping route.
By AFP
March 4, 2025
Under fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump, Hong Kong firm Hutchison has agreed to sale two ports it operates at the entrance to the Panama Canal to a US-led consortium - Copyright AFP Pedro Pardo
Juan José Rodríguez
The decision by Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison to sell its Panama ports to a US-led consortium provides the Central American country with a convenient way out of its standoff with President Donald Trump, experts said Tuesday.
Trump has been fixated on the question of who controls shipping in the Panama Canal, which was built by Washington over a century ago to link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and later handed over to Panama.
The Republican leader has repeatedly threatened the use of force to seize the canal, claiming that Hutchison’s ownership of two ports, one at either entrance to the canal, gave China control over the strategic waterway which links the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Panama rejected the claim that China had de facto control over the canal, which handles 40 percent of US container traffic, while taking various actions to appease Trump.
Its campaign to dodge his fury received a major boost on Tuesday with Hutchison’s announcement that it would offload its ports to a group led by giant US asset manager BlackRock.
The sale offers Panama “a way out of the diplomatic crisis without needing to cancel (Hutchison’s) concession, which would further damage the investment climate in Panama,” Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America program at the Washington based Wilson Center think tank told AFP.
Panama’s government insisted that it had no hand in Hutchison’s sale, insisting it was a deal “between private companies.”
Frank Sixt, co-managing director of CK Hutchison, also argued that the deal was “purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports.”
But analysts said it came as a relief nonetheless for President Jose Raul Mulino, who had been under fierce pressure to reduce China’s footprint in the country, without riling the second-largest user of the canal after the United States.
In January, his government ordered an audit of Hutchison’s Panamanian subsidiary, Panama Ports, in what was seen as a shot across the bow at the group owned by businessman Li Ka-shing, one of Asia’s richest men.
In the end, one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates decided itself to bow to Trump’s pressure.
“In the Trump era, business is the new geopolitics,” Sabrina Bacal, a Panamanian political scientist, told AFP.
– ‘Taking back’ the canal –
In his inauguration speech on January 20, Trump declared the United States was “taking back” the Panama Canal, claiming China operated it.
On a visit to Panama two weeks later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued Mulino with an ultimatum to immediately reduce Chinese influence on the canal or face unspecified “measures.”
Panama sought desperately to appease the Trump administration by first pulling out of China’s massive Belt and Road infrastructure program and then offering to act as a beachhead for Trump’s mass migrant deportations.
Panamanian authorities also began piling pressure on Hutchison, which handled 39 percent of the containers that passed through Panamanian docks in 2024, according to the Panamanian Maritime Authority.
The country’s Supreme Court agreed to consider two requests to annul the ports concession granted to Hutchison, which Panama’s attorney general claimed was unconstitutional.
The concession was first awarded in 1997 and extended for 25 years in 2021.
While Hutchison’s sale of the ports is expected to silence Trump’s criticism of Chinese involvement in the canal, he could however continue to complain that US vessels are being overcharged to use the waterway.
Last month, the US State Department claimed that Panama had agreed to let US naval vessels through for free — a claim denied by the Panama Canal Authority, the independent agency that runs the shipping route.
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