US-China Rivalry in Trade and Economic Relations with Latin American Countries

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of trade and economic relations between the United States and China with Latin American countries. This region is a sphere of competitive confrontation between the two countries not only for foreign policy ties, but also for trade and economic ones. The authors in this article show the peculiarities of the bilateral relations between China and the United States with Latin America and describe the process of changing US policy towards Latin America after 2017, when it radically changed after the Trump administration came to power, and Beijing, taking advantage of this opportunity, began to compete with Washington in this region. Also, in this article, the authors provide a comparative analysis of the indicators of trade and economic relations between China and the United States with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The scientific novelty of this work lies in the fact that, using the example of the transition of leading positions towards China, the authors, within the framework of the theory of "power transit" (Power transition theory), describe the competitive struggle of states in this region in trade and economic terms, which is inextricably linked with political relations. The main conclusions are that the United States is still an external force that cannot be ignored in Latin American international relations, while China has every chance of gradually displacing the United States from the foreign market in Latin America thanks to its economic projects with the introduction of leading Latin American countries in the economic sphere. The United States of America, in turn, is trying to maintain its position in this region by easing its economic and financial constraints and, thereby, inclining the political leadership of Latin American countries to its side.