Donald Trump will urge Latin America to spurn China in favour of the US in trade, official says

US President Donald Trump, engaged in an escalating confrontation with Beijing over trade, will urge Latin American leaders next week to work with the United States – not China – on trade, a senior US official said on Thursday.

Trump’s trip to Lima, Peru, for the Summit of the Americas has been prefaced by aggressive moves on trade and immigration.

In a telephone briefing with reporters in advance of the trip, the US official, who declined to be named, said that China’s trade policies had “not been productive for the hemisphere and that the United States should remain the partner of choice” for Latin American countries.

Just 11 hours after the Trump administration proposed 25 per cent tariffs on some 1,300 Chinese industrial, technology, transport and medical products, China shot back with a list of similar duties on American imports including soybeans, planes, cars, beef and chemicals.

The dispute has roiled financial markets and angered US lawmakers in agricultural states who worry about the economic impact of retaliatory tariffs on American soybeans and other crops.

Trump has also been sparring with Mexico and Canada on an overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement. 

In addition, his administration is arguing with Argentina over biodiesel production and had threatened tariffs on imports of steel from Brazil.

But in his address to the Summit of the Americas, Trump will suggest that the United States is a better trade partner than China, which is the top trade partner for Latin American countries ranging from Brazil, the region’s largest economy, to Uruguay.

Substantive discussions on Nafta are not expected at the summit, the official said.

It was also unclear how much emphasis Trump would place on stopping illegal immigration from the region into the United States, a major pledge of his presidential campaign.

Leading up to the summit, Trump has announced he wants to post National Guard troops along the US southern border with Mexico, and has ramped up tough rhetoric against illegal immigrants from Honduras and other parts of Central America.

Trump also plans to address the crisis in Venezuela with regional leaders, the official said. 

But the US government is still examining its next steps for sanctions on Venezuela with new announcements not expected for several months, the official said.