In South America, Trump already losing a trade battle with China
In South America, Trump already losing a trade battle with China
"China has entered the region aggressively [...] and is prepared to remain there for the long term," said AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth to Reuters.
In South American copper giant Peru, the incoming Donald Trump White House, opens new tab will find itself already on the losing side in a trade battle with China, part of a bigger power realignment around the resource-rich region in Washington's backyard.
Peru, the world's no. 2 copper exporter, is set to host Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders this week, with China's President Xi Jinping expected to attend and inaugurate a major new Chinese-built port in the country. Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden is also on the guest list. Peru reflects a wider challenge for the White House around South America, where China's presence has grown rapidly given its huge appetite for the region's main exports: corn, copper, soy, beef and battery-metal lithium.
That's made Beijing the go-to trade partner from Brazil to Chile and Argentina, eroding Washington's regional political clout, a trend that widened under Trump's 'America First' inward turn during his first administration and again under Biden. [...]
"China has entered the region aggressively, is learning quickly, and is prepared to remain for the long term," said Eric Farnsworth, a former State Department official now at the Council of the Americas and Americas Society. "Unless the United States meaningfully prioritizes regional economic policy in a new and more effective way, the region will continue to tilt toward Chinese interests." ...
