Panama has exempted U.S. government ships and vessels from fees for transit through the Panama Canal.

Panama will not charge fees for passage through the Panama Canal for ships and vessels owned by the United States government.

This was reported by the U.S. State Department.

"The government of Panama has agreed to no longer impose transit fees for the passage of ships and vessels owned by the United States government," the statement said.

It adds that such vessels can now transit the Panama Canal free of charge, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars annually.

No mention is made in the statement regarding fees for vessels operated by private American shipping companies.

Earlier, Judicial and Legal Newspaper reported that following the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Panama, the country's president Raúl Mulino announced that Panama will not renew the cooperation memorandum with the Chinese initiative "One Belt, One Road."

As writes The Washington Times, Mulino stated that Panama will not extend the agreement from 2017 when its validity expires.

The publication notes that despite Mulino rejecting any negotiations regarding the sovereignty of the Panama Canal, there is a belief that Panama may be open to a compromise whereby control of the canal's operations would be taken from the Hong Kong company Hutchison Ports, which was granted the right to manage it for 25 years without a tender.

At the same time, it remains unclear whether U.S. President Donald Trump will agree to transfer the concession to an American or European company, media reports.

Previously, Donald Trump stated, "Panama is violating agreements regarding the passage of ships. We did not give this canal to China; we gave it to Panama, and we want to take it back."