 "Trump hails 'reclaiming' of Panama Canal after BlackRock's port deal, Panama's Mulino disputes claim")
US President Donald Trump has hailed US firm BlackRock for its deal to acquire most of the $22.8 billion port business of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison along the Panama Canal, giving the firm control over key ports in the region, aligning with the White House’s push to curb Chinese influence.
The deal will give control of key Panama Canal ports to the US firm, aligning with White House efforts to reduce Chinese influence in the region.
“My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” Trump said in his first address to the US Congress on Tuesday night.
“Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals.”
Afterwards, in a post on X, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said Trump was “once again lying”.
“The Panama Canal is not in the process of being reclaimed … the Canal is Panamanian and will continue to be Panamanian!”
The BlackRock-led consortium will acquire 90 per cent of Panama Ports Company, which has managed the Balboa and Cristobal ports at both ends of the Panama Canal for over 20 years, CK Hutchison said.
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View All“We are pleased that US investors are taking a controlling stake in Panama Ports Company,” a U.S. State Department official told Reuters.
CK Hutchison is a publicly traded Hong Kong company with no financial ties to the Chinese government. Other ports in Panama are operated by companies from the US, Taiwan, and Singapore.
With inputs from Reuters.
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