Why Panama Canal rates have generated controversy in the US.

The cost of using the Panama Canal has increased in recent years; Excessively, according to the president of the United States, Donald Trump. According to the channel operator, some of the reasons are droughts, investments in improvements and enormous demand.

But if Trump gets the channel rates to be reduced in Panama, US consumers will not notice the difference, because the cost of the channel only represents a small fraction of the sale price of most products. An analysis concludes that crossing the channel adds 10 cents to the cost of a coffee maker.

The costs of going through the Panama Canal were not a big problem until Trump raised the issue last year.

In addition to highlighting the cost of using the channel, American politicians are concerned about security. They point out that China has made great investments in Panama’s infrastructure and that a Hong Kong company operates in ports both at the end of the Atlantic and Pacific channel. The Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on a visit to Panama on Sunday, seemed to intensify those security concerns with the Panamanian leader.

China does not play any role in the operation of the channel, a task that the authority of the Panama Canal, a Panamanian organism is responsible. The United States built the channel at the beginning of the 20th century, mainly with Caribbean workers, and gave it to Panama in 1999 with the condition that it remained neutral.