Panama’s Supreme Court has ruled that the contracts under which a Chinese company operates ports on the Panama Canal are unconstitutional. It comes one year after United States President Donald Trump threatened to seize control of the crucial passageway, claiming it was effectively under Chinese control and therefore a security threat. The court ruled that the laws and acts underpinning the concession contracts between the state and the Panama Ports Company (PPC) for the development, construction, operation and management of the two port terminals violated the country’s constitution. The CK Hutchison subsidiary has held the contracts, which allow it to operate the container ports of Balboa on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal and Cristobal on the Atlantic side, since the 1990s. The ruling could force Panama to restructure the legal framework needed to hold port operations contracts and potentially require new tenders to operate the terminals.