China has been gaining ground in Latin America in terms of trade since US President Joe Biden took office next year, Reuters Latest analytics. The news agency, which mainly studied UN trade data from 2015 to 2021, found that In addition to Mexico, America’s most important trading partner, Beijing has overtaken Washington in Latin America.
The trend in resource-rich South American countries has highlighted how the United States has lost influence over its neighbors, despite Biden America Summit It also wants to restore relations with countries.
Mexico and the United States concluded a free trade agreement in the 1990s, and trade between the two countries alone cast a shadow over Washington’s trade with the rest of Latin America. But the gap widened further under former US President Donald Trump in 2018, and Biden has widened since taking office last January, despite the president promising to restore global leadership to his country.
The main problem, current and former officials say, is that The United States has been too slow to take concrete action, while China, a major buyer of grain and precious metals, has simply given the region more in terms of trade and investment.
If we don’t take Mexico into account, Total trade between Latin America and China, according to the latest figures, was nearly $247 billion last year, much higher than the $174 billion with the United States.
In contrast, trade between Mexico and the United States amounted to $607 billion in 2021, compared to $496 billion in 2015. Its trade volume with China was $110 billion, up from $75 billion six years ago.
Senior US officials have been told that Biden will announce an “American Partnership” plan at the Los Angeles summit that will focus on post-pandemic recovery, based on existing trade agreements. It aims to mobilize investment, strengthen the Inter-American Development Bank, create clean energy jobs, and strengthen supply chains, officials said.
However, an anonymous US official acknowledged that Washington faced difficult challenges.
As long as China is willing to put money on the table, it looks like we are fighting a losing battle
– He mentioned that, including trade flows between the United States and Mexico, the United States was still ahead, but it hid the broader trend in the region for Chinese-made products, and Beijing was devouring soybeans, corn and copper.
