After Donald Trump assumed office as the 47th U.S. president, his first speech included three important policy positions that affect the shipping industry: wrestling back control of the Panama Canal, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, and exiting the Paris Agreement.
Control of the Panama Canal
President Trump promised to wrest back the Panama Canal from Panamanian control. Trump claimed in his speech that China is operating the Panama Canal and stated that the U.S. will wrest back control of the Canal. In his speech, he said “We didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.” Trump’s Panama Canal statements caused speculations in maritime trade.
He also blamed Panama for charging excessive fees for Panama Canal usage towards American vessels. In response to this, Panama’s president Jose Raul Mulino stated the canal “is and will continue to be Panamanian.”
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico
President Trump, soon after being inaugurated, signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. President Trump said that they will rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. In response to Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said “he can call it whatever he wants on the American part of it. For us it is still the Gulf of Mexico, and for the entire world it is still the Gulf of Mexico.”
Though Donald Trump’s efforts to rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America picked up steam, the President of Mexico is standing firm against the move.
Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement
President Trump has signed an order for the United States to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement for the second time. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement in his first administration. During the Biden presidency, this situation was immediately reversed with the U.S. re-joined. However President Trump, after he became president for the second time, signed an order for the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement for the second time.
Trump aimed his ire at China and he said, “The United States will not harm its industries while China pollutes with impunity.”
President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement portends challenges for impending “green discussions” at the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s next meeting, where a global carbon levy could be imposed on the shipping industry in April of this year after a vote.
