The canal authority, an autonomous agency overseen by the Panamanian government, said in a statement that it had not made any changes to charge fees or rights to cross the canal, adding its statement was directly in response to the U.S. claims. The U.S. State Department had said earlier in the day that Panama's government had agreed to no longer charge crossing fees for U.S. government vessels, in a move that would save the U.S. millions of dollars a year.