Panama eyes new China maritime deal despite Trump pressure

Workers build the Freedom 250's Great American State Fair on the National Mall on May 28, 2026 in Washington, DC. [AFP]

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino expressed confidence Thursday that he can renew a maritime shipping agreement with China, circumventing tensions fueled by US President Donald Trump's efforts to control the Panama Canal.

After establishing diplomatic relations in 2017, Panama and China formalized a maritime agreement offering preferential port tariffs and easier bureaucratic rules for ships under the Panamanian flag in Chinese harbors.

The agreement ends this year.

Panama is seeking to renew the deal despite complaining that its boats now suffer tighter controls in China following the cancellation of a Hong Kong company's concession to operate two ports in the Panama Canal.

On Tuesday the foreign ministers of China and Panama, Wang Yi and Javier Martinez-Acha, met in New York to smooth over the situation.

The meeting was "without a doubt" a "transcendental step," Mulino told a press conference.

He said he remains confident that negotiations will go well, expressing hope for "a respectful dialogue."

Panama's Martinez-Acha told the same press conference that his Chinese counterpart said there are high chances the two countries can have "a beneficial negotiation for both parties through mutual respect."

China intensified controls of Panamanian boats following a court ruling in the Central American country that nixed the contract for Panama Ports Company -- a subsidiary of Hong Kong firm Hutchinson -- which operated two terminals in the canal.

Trump has sought to assert control over the key interoceanic waterway under the argument it was run by China, though the canal is overseen by a Panamanian institution autonomous from the government.