USA and China in Latin America: Contours of Competition

• Main Author: Petr Pavlovich Yakovlev
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) 2019-12-01
• Series: Vestnik RUDN International Relations
• Subjects: Latin America; the United States; China; European Union; international competition; trade wars
• Online Access: http://journals.rudn.ru/international-relations/article/viewFile/20851/16815

In the last decade Latin America in trade, economic and financial terms turns out to be increasingly “sandwiched” between the United States and China, which accounted for more than half of the total trade of Latin American countries, and also a crucial part of entering the region investment and credit resources. This circumstance has the strongest impact on the structure and orientation of foreign economic relations and foreign policy contacts. In the foreseeable future one of the complexities of foreign policy of the Latin American countries will be delaying action between the United States and China, are becoming involved in hybrid war for dominance in the global economy and trade. In Latin American capitals the USA-Chinese rivalry at the global level are watched with suspicion and fear. It is connected not only with the current situation, but with the dynamics of relations between Washington and Beijing, the intensification of contradictions at the global and regional levels. Latin Americans believe that initiation of trade wars and other kinds of American-Chinese confrontation could harm the development of the world economy and harm the crucial interests of the region, which is critically dependent on international goods and financial markets. The main challenge is the diversification of international relations of the Latin American States, the broadening of their economic and political partners. Only in this way can be weakened the hyper dependence of Latin America from Washington and Beijing, and reversed the negative effects of the ongoing protectionist policies and trade wars initiated by the administration of Donald Trump.