The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of the Republic of Colombia issued Decree No. 0170 of 2026, whereby it adopted a reciprocal tariff equivalent to 30% ad valorem applicable to certain products imported from the Republic of Ecuador, as well as restrictive measures on the entry of goods originating in or coming from Ecuador on grounds of national security.
Article 1 of the Decree imposes such tariff on 23 tariff headings, broken down into 73 specific subheadings, expressly detailed in the regulatory text. These subheadings include agricultural and agro-industrial products, food sector goods, certain manufactured products, and other strategic goods identified by the Colombian Government.
Article 3 further establishes a stricter measure by prohibiting the entry, under any customs regime and via land routes (Sectional Directorates of Taxes and Customs of Ipiales and Puerto Asís), of goods classifiable under three tariff headings used in the production of fentanyl.
The 30% tariff is applied to the customs value of goods imported from Ecuador.
Subsequently, in response to such measure, Ecuador adopted a 50% levy on the customs value of goods originating in or coming from Colombia. In this context, the National Customs Service of Ecuador issued Resolution No. SENAE-SENAE-2026-0017-RE, regulating the operational application of such levy and establishing the guidelines for its assessment, collection, and control within the Ecuadorian customs system, as well as its enforceability as a prior condition for customs clearance.
Following Ecuador’s adoption of the 50% levy, the Government of the Republic of Colombia announced a draft regulation proposing to increase its tariff applicable to imports originating in Ecuador up to 50% ad valorem, which would constitute a further escalation of reciprocal trade measures between the two countries.
From the perspective of Andean Community law, both Colombia and Ecuador are Member States of the Andean Community; therefore, the imposition of duties and restrictions on intra-community trade may be subject to review under the Andean Trade Liberalization Program, which prohibits such measures except where duly justified exceptions apply.
In this context, mechanisms have been activated before the General Secretariat of the Andean Community (CAN) to analyze the compatibility of these measures with the Andean legal framework.
Our team remains attentive to any developments within the Andean framework, as well as to any additional regulatory changes arising from this tariff escalation, including the assessment of the associated regulatory and commercial risks.
Andrea Moya, Partner at CorralRosales
amoya@corralrosales.com
+593 2 2544144
