Latin American Economies Diversify Trade Amid Trump Tariffs

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Highlights this week: Chile, Mexico and Peru talk about trade At the Asia Summit, US boat strikes in the Caribbean are at risk regional Diplomacyand A Beloved podcast Celebrate it quinceañera.

Last week’s bilateral meetings between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were not the only news at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea. Officials from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members in Latin America – Chile, Mexico and Peru – attended the event and announced new steps towards trade integration with Asian partners.

Their visits, which came in the wake of the appearance of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit a few days ago, constitute a continuation of the trend of Latin American countries seeking to deepen trade relations with Asia in the face of US tariffs.

At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, Chilean President Gabriel Buric described trade protectionism as “the elephant in the room,” saying that “it is multilateralism and dialogue that will achieve development, not impositions by the most powerful actor.”

On the sidelines of the summit, Chile and South Korea announced a new partnership between the export promotion agencies of the two countries. With the Philippines, Chile agreed to accelerate a draft trade agreement; The Philippines also announced that it will form a committee to explore a free trade agreement with Peru. Mexico and Vietnam held talks to strengthen economic relations.

The meetings were based on some existing trade agreements. Although APEC is a forum and not a free trade area, Chile, Mexico and Peru are all members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP. (The United States was part of talks about creating a precursor to the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the 2000s, but Trump withdrew from the process in 2017.)

The meetings held by Latin American countries last week aimed to achieve greater integration, including countries that are not members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, such as the Philippines. They also focused on more specific sectors. For example, Chile has launched trilateral talks with New Zealand and Singapore to create a “Green Economy Partnership Agreement” designed to work together on technologies such as clean hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel.

Buric was the only Latin American president to attend the APEC summit. Mexico sent its Minister of Economy, while Peru sent its Minister of Foreign Trade, marking one of the country’s first foreign policy moves under new Peruvian President José Giri. Peruvian Minister Teresa Meira echoed Buric’s anti-protectionist message, saying Peru was “fully convinced of the benefits of trade openness and multilateralism.”

However, Mexico recently announced a warning about its trade openness: plans to impose tariffs on certain goods from countries with which it does not have free trade agreements. CPTPP countries will be protected from these tariffs, but others – such as China and the Philippines – will not. Mexican officials are still working out final details.

It may take months or years before bilateral trade between Chile, Mexico, Peru and their Asian partners increases meaningfully as a result of last week’s talks. But the effects of this trade diversification could be felt by the time the APEC summit reaches the region’s doorstep: this week, Mexico was selected to host the event in 2028.

Friday 7 November: French President Emmanuel Macron visits Mexico City.

Saturday 8 November: New Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz takes office.

Sunday, November 9 to Monday, November 10: The summit of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) was held in Santa Marta, Colombia.

From Monday, November 10 to Friday, November 21: This year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, is being held in Belém, Brazil.

Sunday 16 November: Chile holds general elections.

COP 30 preliminary games. Nearly 300 mayors from around the world gathered in Rio de Janeiro on Monday to pledge their commitment to climate action. This was one of many events that took place in parallel with this year’s United Nations climate conference in the Amazon city of Belem, which officially begins next Monday.

Side events are ongoing barely In parallel, to be precise: due to the lack of hotels in Belém, some were pushed to other Brazilian cities before the start of the conference itself. In São Paulo between Monday and Wednesday, representatives of the global business sector discussed their role in the green transition. In Belém itself, world leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron met starting Thursday for a two-day summit on climate action.

Diplomats from Brazil and Azerbaijan – which hosted last year’s climate conference – presented one of the main expected outcomes of the summit on Wednesday: a non-binding plan on where to source $1.3 trillion in financing annually for developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The proposal envisages relying on development banks, private financing, direct government grants, and more.

The writer of this bulletin will be in Belem starting next week. Follow along for coverage on the ground.

Chinese technology finance. Chinese venture capital funders are increasingly looking to invest money in startups in Latin America, where they face intense competition at home. BloombergJuan Pablo Spinito wrote this week.

A company co-founded by Chinese businessman Jack Ma recently announced funding for a lending platform for small and medium-sized companies in Latin America, while Chinese companies BAI Capital and Tencent have directly funded startups in Mexico and Argentina.

Technology venture capital funding in Latin America reached an annual peak of about $16 billion in 2021 — when global interest rates were low — but has fallen sharply to an estimated $5 billion this year. During the peak of 2021, US companies as well as Japan’s SoftBank were responsible for a lot of investments.

More recently, countries including Brazil have specifically courted Chinese investment in their technology sectors.

The podcast is 15 years old. One of the most beloved Spanish-language podcasts about Latin America is celebrating its fifth year: Radio Ambulante produces feature-length episodes about true stories from the region. Its fifteenth season features episodes about an Argentine family in Antarctica, the power of learning Haitian Creole, and an unplanned departure from Venezuela.

The gallery’s archive is a rich source for an intimate look at the history and politics of the region. For those who are starting out, Foreign policy She recommends the episode “Superman in Chile,” the story of actor Christopher Reeve traveling to Santiago in the 1980s to support Chilean actors who were threatened with death during the dictatorship.

People watch as the USS Gravely departs from Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on October 30.Martin Peretti/AFP via Getty Images

Plans for high-level regional summits were upended this week, as tensions over the US military buildup near Venezuela spilled over into regional relations.

On Monday, the Dominican Republic announced the postponement of the Summit of the Americas until next year. The diplomatic gathering, which brings together Latin American and Caribbean countries as well as the United States and Canada, was scheduled to be held in December. This has happened approximately every three years since 1994.

The Dominican government said the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa was partly to blame for the cancellation, but also pointed to “deep differences” that hinder “fruitful dialogue” in the hemisphere. No further details were given.

Last month, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would not attend the summit, in part because certain countries were not invited. Among the countries excluded were Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Sheinbaum has spoken out against the US bombing campaign against alleged drug boats in the region. Other countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, have adopted these strikes.

This situation has caused a sharp rift between the United States and Colombia. Washington imposed sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro after he criticized the strikes and described them as “murder.” The US Treasury Department said Petro allowed drug trafficking to flourish.

These sanctions – and concerns about angering Trump – have reportedly prompted European officials such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to cancel their plans to attend this weekend’s summit in Colombia between the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. European Council President Antonio Costa is still expected to attend.

The EU/CLAC meeting, initially intended to highlight trade relations, is now expected to include consultations on the US military buildup. “This GRULAC meeting has no meaning now unless it aims to discuss the issue of US warships,” said Lula, who will attend on Tuesday.