US President-elect Donald Trump told reporters that he would not let China manage the Panama Canal, Report informs via TASS.

“They gave it to them for $1 and then they charge more for our ships. It’s not going to happen. And China’s running the Panama Canal. That’s not going to happen either,” Trump said.

Earlier, the president-elect said that the US could regain control of the Panama Canal if the current terms of its use are not renegotiated. He criticized the high tariffs charged for transit through the canal and insisted that relinquishing control of the canal in 1999 was a gesture of cooperation, not a concession to other countries. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said sovereignty over the canal and the country’s independence could not be negotiated.