Economics

China Seizes Opening in U.S. Backyard as Trump Upends Policy

  • Result gives Xi unexpected chance to reset Latin American ties
  • Beijing was struggling with changes in long-time U.S. sphere

What Trump's Trade War with China Would Look Like

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As Donald Trump weighs plans to tear up trade deals and deport illegal migrants from Latin America, Chinese President Xi Jinping is moving swiftly to reset relations in America’s backyard.

Xi returned from a Latin American swing last week having lavished Ecuador with $10 billion in energy and infrastructure deals, and bestowed Ecuador and Chile with China’s highest diplomatic status. He toldBloomberg Terminal Peru’s Congress relations were “standing at a new historical starting point.” While attending a summit in Lima with his lame duck U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, he cast China as the region’s most eager trade advocate.