Earlier this month, BlackRock Inc. secured control over key ports near the Panama Canal, stripping away Chinese-linked influence over one of the world’s most crucial shipping routes.
The $23 billion deal, which includes $5 billion in debt, will effectively place the strategic ports under American control — a move long advocated by President Donald Trump and national security hawks concerned about China’s grip on global infrastructure.
The transaction, announced Tuesday, involves Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings selling its controlling stake in Hutchison Port Holdings and Hutchison Port Group Holdings to a U.S.-led consortium spearheaded by BlackRock, AP reported.
This historic acquisition grants control over 43 ports in 23 countries, including major sites in Mexico, the Netherlands, Egypt, Australia, Pakistan, and Panama’s critical ports of Balboa and Cristobal—the two primary gateways to the Panama Canal.
President Donald Trump has vowed to “take back” the Panama Canal, arguing that Panama has violated its neutrality pledge and allowed China to gain control over the waterway.
Emphasizing the canal’s strategic importance—a vital trade route built by the U.S. to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans—he warned that it must not fall into the “wrong hands.”
The Canal Zone in Panama had been under U.S. control for nearly 75 years before Democrat Jimmy Carter gave it back to Panama in 1977 by signing treaties with Panama’s leader, Gen. Omar Torrijos.
The stretch of land 50 miles long and 10 miles wide in the middle of the Panamanian isthmus had been under U.S. control since 1903, but Jimmy gave it all back and since then the crucial transportation route has come under Chinese control.
Now China is blocking the transfer of the critical ports to a Blackrock-owned group.
This sets up a major confrontation with President Trump.
Business Day NG reported:
Chinese antitrust regulators are investigating a US consortium’s deal for two ports in the Panama Canal zone, reportedly delaying the deal’s closing that was originally set for next week.
President Donald Trump had previously claimed China controls the canal (Panama controls it, although China owns ports on both sides of the crucial maritime passage). Trump has threatened to have the United States once again take control of the canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The deal, led by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with an enormous pool of $11.6 trillion in assets, was announced earlier this month and was widely viewed as a way to ease tensions in the region. BlackRock agreed to lead a group that would buy Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison’s controlling interest in 43 other ports around the world, comprising 199 berths in 23 countries.