The Suez and Panama channels play a pivotal role in the global trade movement, as they are bound between the most important marine corridors, and provide faster and more efficient routes for international shipping.
In a remarkable step, US President Donald Trump called for allowing American ships to pass free via the two channels, in a statement that might cause widespread controversy over the sovereignty of both countries.
The US President said that the United States should be allowed to pass through the Suez and Panama channels without paying any fees.
“I asked Foreign Minister Marco Rubio to take this matter immediately,” Trump added in a post on his “Truth Social” platform, saying that the Banama and Suez channels would not have been to guide without the United States, as he put it.
In this report, we review the various dimensions of this issue, and we review the numbers and facts related to the movement of ships and economic revenues of the two channels, the number of American ships that cross them, and their importance for global trade.
– Donald J. Trump Posts from his Truth Social (@trumpdailysts) April 26, 2025
Why are the Suez channels and a group of global trade?
The Suez and Panama channels are two main artery in global trade, as they reduce transit times, and the transport of goods through the main trade areas is facilitated.
The Panama channel is a vital link for the Americas, as it provides a direct path between the calm and Atlantic surroundings.
As for the Suez Canal, it is a major corridor for traveling ships between Europe and Asia and the rest of the world, which highlights its importance in international trade.
Their importance of global trade is evident in the following points:
The Suez Canal is the shortest marine link between Asia and Europe
- Trade volume: Through the Suez Canal, about 12% of the volume of global trade, which makes it a basic way for mobile goods between Asia, Europe and the Americas, according to the American Maritime Institute.
- Energy Transfer: The channel transmits about 7-10% of global oil, in addition to 8% of liquefied natural gas, highlighting its vital role in global energy supply chains, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and New Zealand Trade.
- Trade transmission: About 30% of the global container movement passes through the channel, carroting goods of more than one trillion US dollars annually, according to the previous source.
- On average, in normal conditions, the channel crosses 50 ships per day, carrying goods between 3 and 9 billion dollars, according to the previous source.
Panama Channel: A vital link between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean
- Trade size: It passes through the Panama channel about 6% of global maritime trade, which makes it a vital link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, according to the “Sobel Shipping” platform.
- Expansion and capacity increased: The canal expansion in 2016 allowed the passage of larger ships, which increased its absorptive capacity by nearly three times.
How many ships pass through the two channels annually?
- Suez Canal: The number of ships that the Suez Canal expressed 13 thousand and 213 ships, compared to more than 26 thousand ships in 2023, which represents a decrease of approximately 50%.
Egyptian officials said that Egypt’s revenues from the Suez Canal decreased by about two -thirds last year, due to regional tensions and wars in the Middle East that affected traffic through the channel. - Panama channelIt crosses it annually between 13 to 14 thousand ships, according to the Panama Channel Authority.
In January 2024, the average number of ships that crossed the Panama channel per day was about 32.6 ships, indicating a decrease in traffic compared to the previous months, and this decrease is attributed to drought that affected the water levels in the canal, which led to the imposition of restrictions on the number of ships allowed to cross daily, according to Reuters.
How much does Egypt reap and build from the money of the two channels?
- Suez CanalThe Suez Canal Authority, which runs the waterway, said that the channel achieved annual revenues of $ 3.991 billion in 2024, a decrease from the highest historic level, which amounted to $ 10.25 billion in 2023, according to the Associated Press. About 30% of the international container movement passes through the channel.
- Panama Channel: In 2024, the channel achieved revenues of about $ 5 billion, which is almost the same revenue that was achieved in 2023, equivalent to about 4% of the GDP of Panama, according to the AS-COA.ORG association and council platform.
How many American military and commercial ships pass through the two channels?
Suez Canal
- War shipsThe US Navy does not publicly disclose the exact number of American warships that cross the Suez Canal annually for operational security reasons. In a rare report, about 11 years ago, the American Fifth Fleet stated that between 35 to 45 American warships crossing the Suez Canal annually.
Note that there are no specific numbers about how much American warships pay fees in exchange for the channel crossing. However, in a rare report published by the “United States accountant office” in 1982, in which he stated that the US Navy paid $ 607,000 in exchange for his ships crossing the Suez Canal from January 1979 to August 1981. - Commercial ships: No specific data is published on the number of American commercial ships that cross the Suez Canal annually or officially detailed by the Egyptian or American authorities. It should be noted that many goods heading to the United States or coming from them are transported on foreign ships run by international shipping companies, so the volume of trade linked to the United States through the channel remains large.
Panama channel
- War ships: According to a report published in February 2025, the Panama channel crossed about 994 warships and a submarine of the American navy between 1998 and 2024, which constitutes about 0.3% of the total transnational ships during that period, and on average the channel crosses 38 American warships annually according to the “News Rom Panama” platform.
In 2023, the channel transit fees reached 341 thousand dollars on average for each ship, compared to 215,000 USD in 2018, an increase of 59%. US naval ships are supposed to pay annual fees of $ 12.9 million, according to the previous source. - Commercial ships: It is not published for accurate numbers on the number of American commercial ships that cross the Panama channel annually, because the official bodies (such as the Panama Channel or the US Maritime Administration) are not detailed by data according to nationality or ownership.
Nevertheless, Louis E Sola, head of the American Federal Naval Committee, stated in a statement before the Committee of Trade, Science and Transport of the US Senate about the importance of the Panama channel for American trade, he said: “This waterway crosses more than 40% of the American container movement, which is valued at about 270 billion dollars annually. Traffic in the channel is not limited to container ships, but rather is used by various types of ships- container ships, and ships Passengers, loose cargo ships, loose goods, and products carriers – to transport goods to and from the United States.
In conclusion, and in light of the extreme importance of the Suez and Panama channels in the World Trade Movement, Trump’s statements are highlighted to open a sensitive discussion on economic sovereignty issues and historical rights. While the figures confirm that the two channels represent vital sources of national revenues in Egypt and Panama, and reflect exceptional importance in supporting global supply chains, the issue of imposing fees on transit remain an inherent part of the national sovereignty of each country.
With international dependence on these two vital passages, any changes in traffic rules or economic returns will have profound implications for global trade and the directly related economies.
