LOS ANGELES, June 8 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a new US economic partnership proposal with Latin America to counter China’s growing influence as it began a regional summit marked by discord and dissent over the guest list.
Hosting the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, Biden sought to reassure the assembled leaders of his administration’s commitment to the region despite the disturbing concerns that Washington sometimes still tries to dictate to its poorer southern neighbors.
The lineup of attending heads of state and government was reduced to 21 after Biden excluded Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, prompting Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and several other leaders to stay away in protest. .
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“We need to invest in making sure our trade is sustainable and responsible for creating more resilient, safer and more sustainable supply chains,” Biden said at a gala opening ceremony.
Biden seeks to present Latin American countries with an alternative to China that calls for increased US economic commitment, including more investment and building on existing trade agreements.
However, its “Association of the Americas for Economic Prosperity,” which still appears to be an ongoing work, fails to offer tariff relief and, according to a senior administration official, will initially focus on ” related partners “that the US already has. trade agreements. Negotiations are expected to begin in early autumn, the official added.
Biden outlined his plan when he launched the summit, which was conceived as a platform to show US leadership in reviving Latin American economies and combating record levels of irregular migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. .
But his agenda has been undermined by the partial boycott of leaders upset by Washington’s decision to eliminate its main left-wing antagonists in the region.
As a result, Biden found himself hosting a larger-than-normal contingent of foreign ministers sitting on his national leaders as incoming dignitaries walked one by one down a red carpet flanked by a military honor guard. .
U.S. officials hope the summit and a parallel meeting of business executives could pave the way for greater co-operation as governments tackle more inflationary work to bring home supply chains extended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden also used his speech to see a statement from the summit on migration to be released on Friday, calling it a “new innovative and integrated approach” with shared responsibility across the hemisphere. But he gave few details.
While Biden is addressing priorities such as mass shootings, high inflation and the war in Ukraine, the U.S. official said the president is trying to pressure the administration’s competitive goals against China with launch of the new partnership for the region.
The US plan also proposes revitalizing the Inter-American Development Bank and creating clean energy jobs
Still, the administration seemed to be moving forward cautiously, aware that an initiative that promotes jobs abroad could face a U.S. protectionist setback.
CHINA’S CHALLENGE
China’s challenge is clearly an important consideration.
The data show that China has widened its trade gap with the United States in much of Latin America since Biden took office in January 2021.
An exclusive Reuters analysis of UN trade data from 2015 to 2021 shows that outside of Mexico, the main trading partner of the United States, China has surpassed the United States in Latin America and increased its advantage in past. Read more
“The best antidote to China’s incursions into the region is to make sure that we are conveying our own affirmative vision for the region economically,” the administration official said.
Biden collaborators have raised the summit as an opportunity for the United States to reaffirm its leadership in Latin America after years of comparative abandonment under its predecessor Donald Trump.
But diplomatic tensions erupted this week when Washington chose not to invite the three countries, which it says violate human rights and democratic values.
Rejected in his demand to invite all countries, López Obrador said he would stay away, diverting attention from the goals of the US administration and to regional divisions.
Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the choice of some leaders not to attend reflected their own “idiosyncratic decisions” and that substantial work would still be accomplished.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the United States has no “moral authority” for conferences 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 and raised questions about the importance of the forthcoming joint migration declaration.
However, leaders from more than 20 countries, including Canada, Brazil and Argentina, are attending the summit, organized by the United States for the first time since its inaugural session in 1994.
Biden will take advantage of a meeting with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday to discuss climate change and also discuss the issue of “open, transparent and democratic elections” in Brazil. Read more
Bolsonaro, a populist admirer of Trump who has maintained a cold relationship with Biden, has raised doubts about Brazil’s voting system, without providing evidence, before the October elections that opinion polls show he loses to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
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Report by Trevor Hunnicutt, Daina Beth Solomon, Matt Spetalnick, Dave Graham, Humeyra Pamuk; Additional feature by Jeff Mason, Steve Holland and Dave Sherwood; written by Matt Spetalnick and Dave Graham; Editing by Grant McCool and Richard Pullin
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