The US relinquished control of the waterway to Panama in 1999 under a treaty signed in 1977 under President Jimmy Carter.
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US President-elect Donald Trump has suggested that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal that Washington "foolishly" ceded to its Central American ally.
Speaking at his first post-election rally in Arizona, Trump complained that canal authorities are collecting "ridiculous" fees from ships that pass through the vital channel that links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
"Our Navy and commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way," Trump told his supporters.
"The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama. It's going to stop. The United States has a big and vested interest in the secure, efficient and reliable operation of the Panama Canal."
The US relinquished control of the waterway to Panama in 1999 under a treaty signed in 1977 under President Jimmy Carter.
The canal is crucial for Panama's economy and generates about one-fifth of the government's annual revenue.
The canal depends on reservoirs to operate its locks. It was heavily affected by droughts in Central America in 2023 that forced it to substantially reduce the number of daily slots for crossing ships.
With fewer ships using the canal each day, administrators also increased the fees that are charged to all shippers for reserving a slot.
With weather returning to normal in the later months of this year, transit on the canal has normalised but price increases are still expected for next year.
Trump said that when he's president, "This complete rip off" of the US "will immediately stop."
If not, he said, the waterway could "be returned to the United States of America in full and without question," but did not explain how that would be possible.
But Panama's President José Raúl Mulino roundly rejected the suggestion that Washington could try to regain control of the canal.
"Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its surroundings belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama. The sovereignty and independence of our country are non-negotiable," he said on Sunday night.
The Republican president-elect used his first major rally since winning the White House in November to bask in his return to power as a large audience of conservatives cheered along.
Addressing supporters at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in Arizona, Trump pledged that his "dream team Cabinet" would deliver a booming economy, seal US borders and quickly settle wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
"I can proudly proclaim that the Golden Age of America is upon us," Trump said.
"There's a spirit that we have now that we didn't have just a short while ago."