The United States will not leave trade leadership on its own continent to authoritarian countries, the US Secretary of Commerce said on Thursday (12.4.2018), in a direct allusion to China, which has gained influence in Latin America in recent years.
During his participation in a business event in the run-up to the Summit of the Americas in Lima, where the notable absentee will be President Donald Trump, Wilbur Ross He said it is better for the region to trade with Washington than with Beijing.
“We will not cede leadership in our hemisphere to authoritarian countries,” he said. Ross y urged nations in the region to make greater efforts to facilitate trade.
Among the Barriers that the official cited in Latin America include delays in customs checks for products to pass through borders and the high costs of customs compliance for companies.
He therefore called on countries to ratify the World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade facilitation agreement, which requires timely publication of customs procedures. “A welcome side effect will be less corruption at the customs level,” said Ross.
For several years now, the region has been calling for greater attention from the United States, which has relegated its neighbors to the background due to its domestic and international priorities and in the process opened the door for China to gain greater influence in the region.
The White House said last week that the United States should be Latin America's preferred trading partner, not China.
To support his point, the US secretary said that Latin America recorded a trade deficit of US$67.000 billion last year with the Asian giant, the largest buyer of the raw materials produced by the region.
And he stressed that, unlike what is exported to Asia, The United States buys manufactured goods from Latin America.
“These higher value-added products create better-paying jobs and are therefore more beneficial to local economies,” Ross said.
After his speech, the official said that It would be “sensible” to reach an agreement on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which is currently being renegotiated with Mexico and Canada.
Earlier at the same event, Peruvian President, Martín Vizcarra, stated that the Latin American countries need to integrate “intelligently” into the world, as they face conditions of weak global growth, low commodity prices and the rise of protectionist stances.
Vizcarra said it is vital to sign new “state-of-the-art” trade agreements such as the TPP, which links Latin American countries with Asia Pacific, and intraregional integration agreements with solid public policies.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is aimed at reducing trade barriers in some of Asia-Pacific's fastest-growing economies. The original 12-member pact was left in limbo in early 2017 when Trump pulled the U.S. out over concerns about jobs at home.
But on Thursday The United States said it will consider re-entering the TPP - as it is known by its acronym in English - after it achieves its objectives in other trade relations, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday during an official visit to Chile.
But in Lima, the discussion is not only about how to advance on the trade front, but also about how to combat corruption, which ultimately affects economies.
The president of the National Confederation of Private Business Institutions (Confiep), Roque Benavides, said that at the end of the meeting A statement against corruption is expected to be issued to promote economic growth. “That is what we will convey to the presidents on Saturday,” he said.
“It is clear that we are all committed to this fight against corruption, We have to act appropriately on the side of the private sector and we demand that the public sector also act appropriately., just as the judiciary has to act,” Benavides said in an interview with Reuters.
Earlier, the president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno, said for his part that after the corruption scandals in the region it is important that businessmen have committed to not to make illegal contributions to electoral campaigns and not to give bribes to win public works.
"I think that if these commitments are fulfilled, they will mark a historic change in our business culture," Moreno said.
Source: Reuters
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