Plans for the Panama Canal, USAID and tariff changes with China and Canada/Statements by Secretary Marco Rubio

2025-02-06 12:19:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Plans for the Panama Canal, USAID and tariff changes with China and

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has shared some of the US administration's positions regarding the Panama Canal and the tariff wars between the US, Mexico, China and Canada.

Secretary Rubio made these statements in an interview with renowned journalist Rich Edson on the Fox News channel.

Regarding the Panama Canal, Rubio said that the US wants to return the Canal to a place open to all, but without being used by foreign powers:

"My hope ultimately is that we can get back to a point where that canal is what it was meant to be, which is a place for the United States and Panama working in partnership, it's free for all, it's open to all, and that no foreign power through their companies or any other means has the ability to use it against us in a time of conflict and impede travel through it, because that would be devastating."

Asked about the state of the USAID agency, Rubio considered it a global charity, which takes taxpayer money and spends it even if it is not in the national interest.

"They've essentially evolved into an agency that believes they're not even a U.S. government agency, that they're outside, they're a global charity, taking taxpayer money and spending it like a global charity, regardless of whether it's in the national interest or not in the national interest."

"One of the most common complaints you'll get if you go to embassies around the world from State Department officials and ambassadors and the like, is that USAID is not only not being cooperative; they're undermining the work we're doing in that country; they're supporting programs that are upsetting to the host government that we're trying to work for on a larger scale, and so on."

Regarding tariffs with Canada, Rubio stated:

"This changes our economic relationship. The President's position is that trade with Canada is very unfair. We are focused on what is most important right now, and that is the tariff. This will obviously have an impact on our relationship with them. We are still neighbors. We will always be neighbors."

Asked if China could expect more beyond what it has already proposed, Rubio said: