Newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing to "take back" the Panama Canal, the world's second busiest interoceanic waterway.

Panama is inching closer to China, Trump's new Federal Maritime Commission head Louis Sola tells CNBC, and 'all options on the table' to defend U.S. business.

The head of the Federal Maritime Commission will tell a U.S. Senate committee that the United States has options to address the growing presence of China and Chinese firms in Panama.

The Panamanian leader added he will not allow his country’s “total superiority” of the shipping channel to be lessened.

Treaty allows for canal’s takeover, witnesses tell Senate panel, but they provide no evidence Chinese port operations breach neutrality.

When the Panama Canal was unveiled by the United States in 1914, the roughly 50-mile-long waterway symbolized American power and technological advancement. But the glow of progress soon faded. Building the canal killed roughly 5,