# Incoming US president Donald Trump slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand control of the waterway be returned to Washington. He also hinted at China’s growing influence around the canal. US businesses depend on the channel to move goods between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The Panama Canal, which was completed by the United States in 1914, was returned to the Central American country under a 1977 deal. Panama took full control in 1999.
Trump slams ‘unfair’ fees for using Panama Canal and threatens to take it back