Who is afraid of trade with China?

Senior researcher Luke Patey argues in Foreign Affairs that China’s trade with Latin America serves as a warning sign for other emerging economies looking to deepen their trade ties with the Asian giant.

The protectionist agenda of US president-elect Donald Trump, and the very likely death of President Barack Obama’s signature global trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, puts Beijing in the driver seat of the global economy. But China’s trade with Latin America demonstrates that countries looking to Beijing to fill Washington’s leadership gap on global trade should be cautious.

Over the past few decades, China’s growing trade with Latin America has undermined key job-producing industries, particularly manufacturing in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. At times, Beijing has even engaged in damaging trade wars with its relatively smaller partners on the continent. Patey suggests how China might reverse course and improve its trade relations with Latin America.