Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has asked U.S. President Donald Trump to temporarily suspend tariffs on Colombian goods, seeking economic relief for businesses reeling from a powerful earthquake that has killed at least 289 people.
The 7.4 magnitude quake struck western Colombia on Monday morning, devastating cities including Pereira, Cali and Quibdo. Communities along the country’s Pacific coast were hit particularly hard, prompting the president to declare the disaster a national emergency.
De la Espriella, who took office earlier this month just days before the quake, said he raised the tariff request in a phone call with Trump. “I asked him to consider the temporary suspension of the high tariffs that affect Colombian products, in order to provide relief to our businesspeople, who are facing very difficult times due to the effects of the earthquake,” he wrote on X on Saturday night.
The Colombian leader, who was backed by Trump in the closely contested June 21 runoff election, has repeatedly emphasized his ties to the U.S. president. He also thanked Trump for emergency assistance dispatched in the quake’s aftermath.
The United States has pledged a total of $26.5 million in earthquake aid, including food, shelters and health supplies, the U.S. State Department stated. There has been no immediate response from the Trump administration to the tariff request.
Nearly a week after the disaster, search teams continued combing through collapsed buildings for survivors. Cranes have been deployed to lift heavy concrete slabs, clearing paths for rescuers navigating the rubble in some of the worst-affected neighborhoods.
The scale of the human toll remains uncertain. The government has reported 143 people missing, while civilian-run databases place the figure in the thousands, underscoring the difficulty of accounting for residents across a wide disaster zone.
The tremor ranks among the most destructive to hit the South American nation in recent memory. Initial reports in the hours after the quake, when authorities first confirmed a rising casualty count, gave little indication of the eventual scale of destruction.
As the aid effort expands, recovery is expected to stretch for months. The government faces mounting pressure to house displaced families, restore power and water services, and rebuild infrastructure across the affected regions while international support continues to arrive.