Colombia said on Monday it has recalled its ambassador from Washington after US President Donald Trump said he would raise tariffs on the South American nation and stop all payments to it, intensifying a feud stemming from US military strikes on vessels allegedly transporting drugs.

Trump also called Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro an “illegal drug leader” on Sunday, which Petro’s government described as offensive. Colombia’s currency fell 1.4 per cent to 3,889 pesos per US dollar in early trading on Monday.

“Daniel Garcia-Pena, Ambassador of Colombia to the United States of America, has been recalled for consultations by President Gustavo Petro and is now in Bogota,” Colombia’s foreign ministry said.

“In the coming hours, the national government will inform of the decisions taken.”

Colombia’s largest trading partner

Trump’s drug leader comments marked a new low in relations between Washington and Bogota, which the US president accuses of being complicit in the illicit drug trade.