The United States President Donald Trump was clear with Latin America during his four-year administration: don’t do business with China,however the message failed to hit home. The President-elect Joe Biden is preparing to enter the White House on Jan. 20, Beijing has tightened its grip over vast swathes of the resource-rich region once seen as the United States’ political backyard. 

A newsagency investigation  including interviews with current and former officials and advisers, and an analysis of trade data, found that under Trump, China has left the United States trailing in terms of power and influence across most of Latin America. posing a challenge to the upcoming President Biden who pledged to restore Washington’s role as a global leader after years of Trump’s “America First” policies, and has said that slipping U.S. influence in Latin American is a threat to national security. 

“They should be on notice that Trump’s incompetence and neglect in Latin America and the Caribbean will end on day one of my administration,” Biden told Americas. However, it is not easy to fulfill the Pledge. From the year 2018, China overtook the United States as the biggest trade partner to Latin America. It has speed up the investment and low-interest loans to those regions and supporting energy projects, solar farms, dams, ports, railway lines and highways. China is now the number one trade partner to Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay and others. It far beyond the United States in terms of trade with Argentina. 

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