Trump’s Actions May Push Latin America Towards China
Donald Trump’s second term in office has already led to political tension between the US and many Latin American countries, just a few days after it officially began.
During the past week, a battle of wills between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro has played out publicly, largely on social media, which resulted in an apparent victory for the new US president.
Cutting a long story short, Trump arranged two flights of deported migrants back to Colombia which were refused, he then threatened to increase tariffs by 25%, rising to 50%, on Colombian imports and Petro backed down.
While the battle has seemingly resulted in a moral victory for Trump, many experts believe that a continuation of these tactics will just push outraged Latin America countries into the arms of China, and perhaps even strengthen their trade with Europe.
Mexico is currently working swifty to improve its border security after a previous threat from Trump to impose a 25% tariff on its imports, the supposed deadline for this action expires this weekend.
One of Trump’s major allies commented that the aim of this particular warning is to pressure Mexico into stopping the flow of fentanyl into the US.
Trump’s barbed suggestion of a 10% rise in global tariffs also hangs over the rest of Latin America, where every country’s economy relies on trade with the United States.
However, China has been investing heavily in joint projects within Latin American countries during the past decade, an example of which was covered in our article on the newly opened Chancay Port in Peru here.
The Far East power’s involvement in Latin America led Trump to suggest the US would take back the Panama Canal recently, saying “we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama”, a claim which has since been rejected out of hand by Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino.
So, while the strong-arm tactics may have brought short-term results, China may be the beneficiary if Trump continues to push Latin American leaders away.
