The Biden administration unveiled a new proposed US economic partnership with Latin America on Wednesday (Jun 8) as regional leaders gathered for a US-hosted summit whose agenda has been undermined by discord over the guest list, Reuters reported.
Seeking to counter China's growing clout, a senior administration official said President Joe Biden is offering America's neighbours to the south an alternative that calls for increased US engagement, including stepped-up investment, strengthening supply lines and building on existing trade deals.
However, Biden's "Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity," which still appears to be a work in progress, stops short of offering tariff relief and, according to the US official, will initially focus on "like-minded partners" that already have US trade accords. Negotiations are expected to begin in early fall, the official added.
Biden was due to outline his plan in a speech later on Wednesday to formally open the summit, which was originally conceived as a platform to showcase US leadership in reviving Latin American economies and tackling migratory pressures.
But Biden's agenda has been marred by a partial boycott by leaders upset at Washington's decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the summit, according to Reuters.
US officials hope the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles and a parallel gathering of top business executives can pave the way for greater economic cooperation as regional nations grappling with higher inflation work to bring supply chains stretched by the Covid-19 pandemic closer to home.
"It's much better for us ... to have a supply chain here in the Americas than it is for us to be dependant on a supply chain that comes from China," US ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar told Reuters.
Biden is seeking to press the administration's competitive goals against China with the launch of the new partnership for the region, the US official said.
Washington, which already has a combined trade pact with Canada and Mexico, a collective one with Central America and a series of bilateral agreements in the region, will attempt to develop new customs, digital trade, labour, environmental and corporate accountability standards, according to the official.
The plan would also aim to mobilise investments, revitalise the Inter-American Development Bank, create clean energy jobs and strengthen supply chains whose weakness were exposed by the pandemic.
Still, the Biden administration appeared to be moving cautiously, mindful an initiative that promotes jobs abroad could face US protectionist pushback, Reuters reported.
