China Displaces US in Latin American Trade

China has beaten the US in trade in much of Latin America during the presidency of current US President Joe Biden.

An exclusive analysis by the British news agency Reuters, based on UN trade data between 2015 and 2021, reveals how the United States is being pushed away from Latin America.

According to the analysis, except for Mexico, which is Washington’s main trading partner, China has surpassed Washington trade with Latin America and has widened the gap more than ever, especially since Biden took office at the beginning of last year.

The report, citing some Latin American politicians, has underlined that the White House has been slow to take concrete steps to fill the growing gap and that Beijing, a major buyer of grains and metals, has simply offered more to the countries of the region in terms of trade and investment while the United State is increasingly using extortion and threats to keep alive its regional influence.

In this sense, former ambassador of Peru in China, Juan Carlos Capuñay, has stressed, as the article details, that “the most important commercial, economic and technological ties for Latin America are definitely with China, which is the main commercial partner of the region, well above the US.”

The latest available data shows that total trade flows, both imports and exports, between Latin America and China reached almost $247 billion in 2021, well above the $174 billion with the US.

This gap in trade between the US and the region first began to be more noticeable under former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021), and has grown since Biden came to power in January 2021.

So far, Biden has failed to bridge or narrow the gap, despite his promise to restore Washington’s role as world leader and to refocus attention on Latin America, after years of what he once described as “neglect.”

(HispanTV) with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

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