‘We’re taking it back’: US-led consortium acquires Panama ports
File photo shows a cargo ship and tugboat sail through the Cocoli Locks at the Panama Canal, in Panama, on Aug. 12, 2024. (AFP Photo)
U.S. investment giant Blackrock-led consortium clinched a deal with Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison to acquire the Panama Canal ports for $19 billion, marking a strategic win for Washington as it seeks to counter growing Chinese influence in global trade routes.
CK Hutchison Holdings said on Tuesday it would offload a 90% stake in Panama Ports Company (PPC) and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports. The deal entails 43 ports comprising 199 berths in 23 countries.
Following the statement, President Trump praised the deal in his speech to Congress, remarking that the U.S. had started to take back the Panama Canal.
“To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” he said. “We’re taking it back.”
The acquisition comes amid renewed geopolitical focus on the Panama Canal, a critical gateway for U.S. trade, particularly under a new Trump administration, as escalating tensions with China raise concerns over a potential trade war.
‘Wholly unrelated to political news regarding Panama ports’
CK Hutchison stated in a joint press release that the deal was motivated by business, not politics. “This transaction is the result of a rapid, discrete but competitive process in which numerous bids and expressions of interest were received,” Frank Sixt, the company’s co-managing director said.
“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,” Sixt added.
CK Hutchison Holdings is one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates, spanning finance, retail, infrastructure, telecoms and logistics. Hutchison subsidiary PPC has for decades run ports at Balboa and Cristobal on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the interoceanic waterway.
However, Trump has complained since taking office in January that China controls the canal─a vital strategic asset that the U.S. once ran.
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.
