The U.S. purchase of the Panama Canal could decrease Chinese influence globally, Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), who introduced the Panama Canal Repurchase Act, said during an appearance on Breitbart News Saturday.
“Unfortunately, the Chinese Communist Party is just filthy all over there. They control the ports at both ends of the Panama Canal — both the Atlantic and Pacific ends,” Johnson said, describing the current scope of Chinese influence.
“Lots of reports about China cozying up to Panama, having more and more influence over how the canal is operated, and 40 percent of all American container loads that leave our country go through the Panama Canal. It is an asset that is uniquely important to us,” he said, explaining that “73 percent of all the traffic in the Panama Canal is American traffic, either imports or exports, overwhelmingly American energy, liquefied natural gas and American agricultural products.”
“And as you noted, we used to control the thing until 1999,” he said, asserting that he believes President-elect Donald Trump “should have the ability to go evaluate whether or not we can get a willing buyer, willing seller situation.”
Host and Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle noted that he witnessed the Chinese influence firsthand when visiting the canal in 2017.
“I think most of, if not all of the ships were all carrying Chinese flags. I was just blown away by it,” he remarked.
“Well, and you’re right to bring up how many ships are flagged with the Chinese flag,” Johnson responded, although he explained that the scope of the issue is much bigger.
“And this is not just a problem for the Panama Canal. It’s a problem for supply chains. Generally, during COVID, you had Chinese carriers who were discriminating against American goods at our own ports,” the congressman said, revealing that 60 percent of U.S. container loads that were going back to Asia “were going back empty at a time when American ag[ricultural] products were rotting on the dock, literally rotting on the dock. They were doing that purposely.”
“My bill, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, passed last Congress, was signed into law and really forced the Chinese to start to treat us more fairly. And I’m going to be talking about these things with President Trump,” he said, telling listeners that he is discussing these issues with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday.
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Breitbart · Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) – January 11, 2025“I’m having dinner with him and a small group of members at Mar-a-Lago tomorrow, and he’s got lots of ideas for how to return some American strength. For the last four years, we’ve been we’ve been projecting weakness in an uncertain world, and there’s a new sheriff in town here real soon,” he added, addressing critics who want nothing to do with this.
“There are some folks who do think America just needs to put her head in the sand and pull up the drawbridge. That’s not America first. That’s America only. And that’s a pretty damn dangerous thing to do. I mean, China has understood that to really recraft the world in their own image, under their values, which should terrify Americans, that they need influence in the global south and sometimes America,” he said, noting, “As we’ve pulled back, or as we’ve shown weakness, as Joe Biden has done, we make it easier for countries to turn toward China.”
Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
