U.S. Government Responses to China’s Activities in Latin America: At the beginning of February, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in his first overseas trip, traveled to four Central American countries plus the Dominican Republic. During his journey, he informed leaders in the Panamanian government, including Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha, that the country needed to reduce China’s influence in the Panama Canal. While Rubio was in Panama, Mulino announced that his country had submitted a formal notice to the Chinese government that it would not be renewing its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) agreement, a move that was received favorably in Washington, DC, and unfavorably in Beijing. However, Mulino later affirmed that despite Panama leaving the BRI, its relationship with China remains unchanged. While visiting Guatemala, Rubio also expressed concern about Huawei and other Chinese telecommunication firms’ activities in the region.
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Mauricio Claver-Carone, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Latin America, gave an interview to Politico, in which he discussed Chinese maneuvers in Latin America, including alleged “Chinese encroachment of the Panama Canal and its surrounding logistics and infrastructure.” Claver-Carone also refuted the claim that China only offers benefits to the region, instead asserting that China offers the illusion of carrots.
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The House of Representatives Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime held a hearing on China’s influence in the Panama Canal and its investment in Western Hemisphere ports. That hearing came after last month’s Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation session on the canal and how Chinese involvement affects U.S. national security.
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Brenda Estefan, a professor at IPADE Business School in Mexico City wrote an op-ed for Americas Quarterly arguing that it will be difficult for the Trump administration to convince other Latin American countries to abandon their ties with China.
Trade: Mexico is evaluating whether to impose tariffs on Chinese imports as it seeks to avoid tariffs placed on its own goods by the United States.
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In 2024, of the nearly three million tons of beef imported by China, more than three-quarters came from Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay—Mercosur countries. In January, however, China’s beef imports from Uruguay fell to their lowest levels in almost two years, declining by 20 percent.
In 2024, Guyana’s trade with China reached $1.4 billion, a 14.4 percent increase compared to the year prior. The two countries also opened a new shipping route this month.
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Ecuador inaugurated a new trade route between Guayaquil and Shanghai via the port of Chancay this month. The South American country also began exporting cans of tuna to China.
In addition, the Chinese and Colombian governments announced a new shipping route between the ports of Buenaventura and Shanghai via the Port of Chancay. Brazil’s government also announced that it was accelerating the start of its operations at the Port of Chancay in response to Trump’s recent protectionist policies.
Bilateral trade between China and Jamaica has increased by nearly 60 percent since 2020 according to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica.
China’s trade with Venezuela in 2024 amounted to $3 billion. Most of that amount ($2.7 billion) funded Chinese exports to Venezuela, while China imported just $300 million worth of Venezuelan goods.
Uruguayan Foreign Minister Omar Paganini remarked in an interview with Politico that Uruguay is still seeking to expand commercial relations with China because “we are a small country in a complicated world, we need trade partners. They are stable people.”
Argentine journalist Javier Lewkowicz notes in an article for Dialogue Earth that, although the government of Argentine President Javier Milei has a complicated relationship with China, provincial governments have been strengthening ties with the country.
Peru’s National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) imposed provisional antidumping duties on imports of table cutlery from China.
The Honduran government announced that it is in the final round of free trade agreement negotiations with China.
Investment: A commission in Bolivia’s Chamber of Deputies approved a contract for a Chinese company to produce lithium in the Uyuni salt flat. However, several days later, Bolivia’s Chamber of Deputies suspended lithium contracts with Chinese and Russian firms over allegations of bribery and concerns surrounding the transparency of contract negotiations. This month, a Chinese-funded steel plant in Bolivia, El Mutún, finally started production. The $546 million plant is expected to produce two hundred thousand metric tons of steel per year.
Chinese mining company Ganfeng Lithium also began production at its Mariana lithium plant in Argentina’s Salta province.
The Nicaraguan government granted two new mining concessions along the Nicaragua-Honduras border to a Chinese company. The Nicaraguan government also announced that it was receiving a nearly $70 million loan from China to fund the construction of a wind farm.
Minghui Wang, general manager of Cosco Shipping’s Colombia operations, stated in an interview with La Republica, a Colombian newspaper, that the company would invest in Colombia’s railway and port infrastructure if the South American country joined the BRI.
A Reuters investigation uncovered that Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD acquired two plots of land and their associated mineral rights in Brazil’s lithium valley in 2023. Geely Holding Group and French automaker Renault announced an agreement to jointly manufacture and sell electric vehicles and other low-emission automobiles in Brazil. Chinese mining company MMG Ltd. purchased Anglo America’s nickel operations in Brazil, which includes two mines and two processing plants.
According to Nikkei Asia, Chinese companies are rethinking investing in Mexico, particularly in the country’s manufacturing sector, due to Trump’s recent tariff threats.
Nicolás Maduro announced that Venezuela will launch a satellite with Chinese assistance to help deliver the fifth-generation mobile network (5G) to Venezuela’s population. Maduro did not specify when and where the satellite will be launched.
Tourism:Venezuela’s Tourism Minister Leticia Gómez and China’s ambassador to Venezuela, Lan Hu, announced their mutual intention to strengthen tourism between the two nations. Jamaica’s tourism ministry is attempting to attract more Chinese visitors as part of the government’s goal of five million tourists in 2025.
Telecommunications: Guatemala’s Social Security Institute signed an agreement with a Huawei distributor to enhance the institution’s data protection capabilities.
Diplomacy: In a meeting with Bolivia’s foreign minister, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China will continue to be a “trustworthy” partner for Latin America. The Chinese foreign minister also stated that his country wants to “continuously elevate the China-Bolivia strategic partnership.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized China in a radio interview for frequently violating intellectual property rights in order to spur the country’s technological advancement. Maria Laura da Rocha, the executive secretary of the Brazilian ministry of foreign affairs and Brazil’s second highest-ranking diplomat, traveled to China this month for strategic consultations with her Chinese counterparts. The two sides discussed a joint strategy to deal with Trump’s tariffs, among other issues.
In response to a question from Brazilian publication Brasil da Fato regarding whether Brazil and China were discussing joint efforts to address tariffs imposed by Trump, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun remarked that “China will work with Brazil to . . . exercise true multilateralism, guarantee the UN’s central role and defend the legitimate rights and interests of Global South countries.” Guo also stated that “China supports Brazil’s BRICS presidency and will jointly advance further BRICS cooperation.”
China and Mexico celebrated fifty-three years of diplomatic relations.
Chile and China celebrated the twentieth anniversary of a free trade agreement between the two countries.
During the spat between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the end of last month, China’s Ambassador to Colombia Zhu Jingyang posted on X that China-Colombia relations are at their best moment. On February 7, Zhu wrote an op-ed in El Tiempo commemorating forty-five years of diplomatic relations between the two countries and reiterated Colombia’s interest in joining the BRI. The Chinese ambassador also gave an interview to Bloomberg Línea in which he argued that leaving the BRI was counter to Latin American countries’ interests.
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Publish date : 2025-02-26 00:55:00
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