LOS ANGELES, June 8 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday a proposed new US economic partnership with Latin America to counter China’s growing influence as it launched a regional summit marred by strife and disregard for the guest list. .
Hosting the North and South American Summit in Los Angeles, Biden sought to reassure assembled leaders of his administration’s commitment to the region, despite persistent fears that Washington sometimes still tries to dictate to its poorer southern neighbors. .
The order of heads of state and government present was reduced to 21 after Biden excluded Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, prompting Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and several other leaders to stand in protest.
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“We need to invest to ensure that our trade is sustainable and responsible in creating supply chains that are more sustainable, more secure and more sustainable,” Biden said at the opening ceremony.
Biden seeks to present Latin American alternatives to China, which calls for increased US economic engagement, including more investment and upgrading existing trade deals.
However, his “America’s Partnership for Economic Prosperity”, which still appears to be in the works, is ceasing to offer tariff concessions and, according to a senior administration official, will initially focus on “like-minded partners” who are already have US trade agreements. Negotiations are expected to begin in early autumn, the official added.
Biden outlined his plan when he launched the summit, which was designed as a platform to demonstrate US leadership in reviving Latin American economies and tackling record levels of illegal migration on the US-Mexico border.
But his program was undermined by a partial boycott by leaders upset by Washington’s decision to eliminate its main left-wing antagonists in the region.
As a result, Biden turned out to be welcoming a larger than normal contingent of foreign ministers seated for their national leaders as high-ranking officials arrived one by one on the red carpet, surrounded by a military honor guard.
U.S. officials hope the summit and the parallel gathering of business executives will pave the way for greater cooperation as governments fighting higher inflation work to bring supply chains closer to the COVID-19 pandemic. , closer to home.
Biden also used his speech to visualize a declaration at the migration summit to be presented on Friday, calling it a “revolutionary, integrated new approach” with shared responsibility across the hemisphere. But he gave a few details.
Even when Biden is addressing priorities such as mass shootings, high inflation and the war in Ukraine, the US official said the president was seeking to push the administration’s competitive goals against China by launching a new partnership for the region.
The US plan also proposes reviving the Inter-American Development Bank and creating clean energy jobs
However, the administration appears to be moving cautiously, given that an initiative that promotes jobs abroad may face a US protectionist repulsion.
CHINA’S CHALLENGE
The challenge from China is obviously a major consideration.
China has widened the gap with the United States in terms of trade in large parts of Latin America since Biden took office in January 2021, the data show.
An exclusive analysis by Reuters of UN trade data for 2015-2021 shows that outside of Mexico, the United States’ largest trading partner, China has overtaken the United States in Latin America and increased its lead last year. Read more
“The best antidote to China’s invasion of the region is to ensure that we convey our own positive vision for the region economically,” the administration official said.
Biden aides presented the summit as an opportunity for the United States to regain its leadership in Latin America after years of relative neglect from his predecessor, Donald Trump.
But diplomatic tensions erupted this week when Washington decided not to invite the three countries, which it said violated human rights and democratic values.
Rejected by his request to invite all parties, Lopez Obrador said he would stand aside, diverting attention from US administration goals and regional divisions.
Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters that choosing some leaders not to attend reflected their own “idiosyncratic decisions” and that much work would still be done.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the United States lacked the “moral authority” to lecture on democracy, and thanked Lopez Obrador for his “solidarity.”
The leaders of Guatemala and Honduras, two of the countries that send the most migrants to the United States, also stayed at home, raising questions about the importance of the upcoming joint declaration on migration.
However, leaders from more than 20 countries, including Canada, Brazil and Argentina, attended the summit, hosted by the United States for the first time since its inaugural session in 1994.
Biden will use Thursday’s meeting with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to talk about climate change and will also discuss “open, transparent and democratic elections” in Brazil. Read more
Bolsonaro, a populist Trump supporter who had a cool relationship with Biden, raised doubts about Brazil’s electoral system without providing evidence ahead of the October election that opinion polls show he lost to left-wing rival Luis Inacio Lula. da Silva.
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Report by Trevor Hanniat, Dinah Beth Solomon, Matt Spetalnik, Dave Graham, Humeirah Cotton; Additional reports by Jeff Mason, Steve Holland and Dave Sherwood; writing by Matt Spetalnik and Dave Graham; Edited by Grant McCool and Richard Pullin
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