Colombia blasts Ecuador's pipeline fee hike as trade war between neighbors escalates

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia on Tuesday blasted Ecuador’s decision to hike up transportation fees for Colombian oil, calling the move an act of “aggression,” as a trade war between the two Andean nations intensifies.

Ecuador announced Monday a tenfold increase in fees for Colombian companies using its oil pipelines, raising the rate from $3 to $30 per barrel. The move would make it harder for oil companies in Colombia to use a pipeline that takes oil from western Ecuador and southwestern Colombia to ports along the Pacific Ocean.

One of the companies that will most likely be affected is Colombia's state-run Ecopetrol, which uses the pipeline to move more than 12,000 barrels of oil per day.

“This is a new aggression against the people,” said Colombian Energy Minister Edwin Palma.

Ecuador hiked its pipeline fees days after Colombia suspended electricity sales to its neighbor. The power cutoff was a major blow to Ecuador, which relies largely on hydroelectric power and suffered from serious power outages in 2024 following a spell of dry weather.

The trade war between the neighboring countries started last Thursday, when Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced a 30% tariff on Colombian imports.

Noboa, a conservative who has sought to deepen ties with the Trump administration, has described the tariffs as a “security tax,” saying last week on social platform X that Colombia was not taking “firm actions” to fight drug cartels that operate along their shared border and send cocaine to Ecuador.

Noboa said the tariffs would be in place “until there is a true commitment” on behalf of Colombia to fight drug trafficking and illegal mining.

Colombian officials have dismissed the accusations, noting that under the administration of Colombian President Gustavo Petro there have been record numbers of cocaine seizures. However, production continues to hit all-time highs, driven by increased lab efficiency and a surge in cultivated hectares.

Colombia’s government responded to Noboa’s tariffs last week by imposing its own 30% tariffs on Ecuadorian imports.

Trade between both countries was worth approximately $2.3 billion last year, according to Colombia's statistics agency, with Colombia sending about $1.7 billion worth of goods to Ecuador, a nation that has about one third of Colombia’s population.

Noboa's critics have said that the president is trying to find someone to blame for the nation’s security problems.

Last week, Ecuador’s Interior Ministry published crime stats for the country indicating it had a homicide rate of 50 murders per 100,000 residents in 2025, the highest rate in the nation’s recent history.

Ecuador’s homicide rate has quintupled since 2020, as drug gangs from Mexico, Colombia and further afield, fight for control of the nation’s ports. The once peaceful South American nation, home to the Galápagos Islands, has become a major transit point for cocaine produced in Colombia and Peru.

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