在南美洲，特朗普已經輸掉了與中國的貿易戰 (1/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

In South America, Trump already losing a trade battle with China (1/2)

Mon, November 11, 2024 at 6:05 p.m. GMT+8·5 min read

By Marco Aquino and Eduardo Baptista

LIMA/BEIJING (Reuters) - In South American copper giant Peru, the incoming Donald Trump White House 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.

"The strategic value is that this is the United States' backyard," said Li Xing, professor at the Guangdong Institute for International Strategies, adding it helped counter U.S. presence around the Indo-Pacific and offset trade war risks.

"China can't start by building military bases there because it's too sensitive and will make China's conflict with the United States too pronounced... So it has made inroads with economic ties first."

Peru demonstrates the dramatic shift. China's trade lead there over the United States widened to $16.3 billion last year, UN Comtrade data show, a stark reversal of just a decade ago when Washington was the dominant player. That's come hand-in-hand with investment from energy to mining.

China overtook the United States in 2015 on trade with Peru, widening the gap under Trump's previous administration from 2017-2021, 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."

The U.S. embassy in Lima did not respond to a request for comment. Washington officials have repeatedly warned publicly that Chinese investment in the region comes with strings attached and said the United States is a more reliable partner.

(to be continued)

Translation

在南美洲，特朗普已經輸掉了與中國的貿易戰 (1/2)

利馬/北京（路透社） - 在南美銅業巨頭秘魯，即將上任的特朗普政府將發現自己在與中國的貿易戰中已經處於失敗的一方，這是圍繞華盛頓後院資源豐富地區進行的更大權力調整的一部分。

秘魯，世界第二大銅出口國將於本週接待亞太經合組織領導人，中國國家主席習近平預計將出席並為該國一個中國新建的主要港口舉行落成儀式。即將離任的美國總統拜登也在嘉賓名單上。

秘魯反映出南美地區白宮面臨的更廣泛挑戰，鑑於中國對該地區主要出口產品（玉米、銅、大豆、牛肉和電池金屬鋰）的巨大需求，中國在該地區的影響力迅速擴大。

這使得北京成為從巴西到智利和阿根廷的首選貿易夥伴，削弱了華盛頓的區域政治影響力，這一趨勢在特朗普第一屆政府期間的「美國優先」向內轉向, 和拜登領導下再次擴大。

廣東國際戰略研究院教授Li Xing表示:「戰略價值在於，這裡是美國的後院」，這有助於對抗美國在印太地區的出現，抵消貿易戰風險」。

“中國不能從在那裡建立軍事基地作開始，因為這太敏感了，會讓中國與美國的衝突變得太明顯……所以它首先建立經濟關係。”

秘魯展現了巨大的轉變。聯合國商品貿易統計資料庫 (UN Comtrade) 數據顯示，去年中國對比美國對秘魯的貿易領先優勢擴大至163億美元，與十年前華盛頓佔主導地位的情況形成鮮明對比。這與中國從能源到採礦業的投資並進。

2015年，中國與秘魯的貿易超越了美國，在2017年至2021年特朗普政府領導下, 以及拜登領導下, 再次擴大了與美國的差距。

現加入了美洲理事會和美洲協會的前國務院官員Eric Farnsworth說:「中國已經積極進入該地區，正在快速學習，並準備長期留在該地區」。

“除非美國以新的、更有效的方式切實優先考慮區域經濟政策，否則該地區將繼續向中國利益傾斜。”

美國駐利馬大使館沒有回應置評請求。華盛頓官員多次公開警告稱，中國在該地區的投資帶有附加條件，並表示美國是更可靠的合作夥伴。

（待續）