Trump takes forceful steps to pressure Latin American leaders to reduce China ties

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. imposed travel bans on three Chilean officials over the possible construction of a submarine fiber optic cable with China, while warning Peru against ceding control over a Chinese-built mega port.

Under pressure from President Donald Trump, who had threatened to take the Panama Canal back under U.S. control, the Panamanian government seized two ports at either end of the canal that had been run by a Hong Kong company.

And when the U.S. captured Venezuela’s then-President Nicolás Maduro in January, China saw its extensive interests in the oil-rich country suddenly vulnerable.

The Trump administration in recent weeks has taken forceful steps in one Latin American country after another aimed at curbing the influence and economic dominance of China. As part of his quest to restore U.S. preeminence in the Western Hemisphere, the president is hosting Latin American leaders at his golf resort near Miami this weekend for a summit dubbed the “Shield of Americas.”

Supporters of the White House pivot say it is necessary to push back against what they see as China’s malign influence on the U.S. doorstep, warning that it could help tip the world order in Beijing’s favor. Others question the effectiveness of such a blunt approach when China’s interests in Latin America run deep and wide.

Francisco Urdinez, an associate professor at the Political Science Institute of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, said he worries that Latin American countries will have to pick a side.

“Trump’s approach is making hedging increasingly difficult,” he said. “The most likely outcome is a more fragmented region. Right-leaning governments will align more closely with Washington, while left-leaning governments will maintain or deepen ties with China. Countries caught in the middle will try to manage the tension case by case.”

China moved in with loans and trade deals

In 2001, Cuba was the only country in the region doing more business with China than with the U.S., according to Urdinez, who tracked the movement of Chinese companies and money in his 2026 book “Economic Displacement: China and the End of US Primacy in Latin America.”

But 20 years later, all South America countries — except Paraguay and Colombia — were trading more with China than with the U.S., according to his research.

“China’s core advantage is its economic weight, plain and simple,” he said.

Rebecca Ray, a senior academic researcher at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center, said China has made itself relevant, desirable and even irreplaceable in Latin America in industries where the U.S. has been absent.

“The U.S. did not invest in the industries that the developing world in general is eyeing to close their infrastructure gaps. The U.S. is not investing in green energy; the U.S. is not investing in green mobility,” Ray said. “Meanwhile, over the last 20 years, China has leapfrogged technologically into these new industries, and Chinese companies have had to develop technologies that nobody else has in order to make those industries practical.”

Between 2014 and 2023, China provided loans and grants to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean worth roughly $153 billion — the largest source of official sector financing for the region — compared with approximately $50.7 billion from the U.S., according to AidData, a research lab at William & Mary, a university in Virginia.

US security concerns

In its National Security Strategy released in December, the White House blamed “years of neglect” for the loss of U.S. preeminence in the Western Hemisphere and vowed to deny “non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets, in our Hemisphere.”

As China’s economic might grew, it gained diplomatic leverage. Since 2016, five countries in the region — Panama, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras — have broken ties with Taiwan and opened embassies in Beijing in hopes of better economic prospects.

But of the 12 countries in the world that still recognize Taiwan’s statehood, seven are in Latin America, reflecting a jostling for influence between the world’s two largest economies.

Taiwan is the most sensitive issue in China-U.S. relations. Beijing considers Taiwan to be Chinese territory and vows to annex the island by force if necessary. The U.S. is obligated by law to provide Taiwan with sufficient hardware to deter any armed attack from the mainland.

Beijing sells weapons and police gear to Latin American countries and helps train police and military personnel.

The Chinese-built port in Chancay, Peru, one of the deepest in Latin America, has raised concerns in Washington that China could use it for military purposes.

“President Trump is right to focus on defending the Western Hemisphere from China,” said Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. “President Trump has made it clear we stand with our friends in the region against China’s efforts to undermine America’s interests.”

The choice for Latin America

Latin America wants to look beyond China for its economic prosperity, and the U.S. has a lot of offer, said Enrique Millán-Mejía, senior fellow on economic development at the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center.

“There is some discontent about the presence of China as an investor and how the footprint and the outcome of those investments has not been significantly positive for the economy, and they are trying to align more with the U.S. — with the promise that the U.S. might invest in strategic sectors,” Millán-Mejía said.

He cautioned that China maintains a big advantage because it already has invested in strategic sectors, including infrastructure, security, logistics and technology. But he expects Latin American countries to be pragmatic and take the best of a relationship with both the U.S. and China.

“Certainly, for Latin America, it’s very important to have a very good and close relationship with the U.S., because the U.S. is very near to them. But obviously, from an economic standpoint, it’s good to keep at least trade relations with China,” Millán-Mejía said.

How China sees it

Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank, said China was focused on doing business in Latin America.

“There’s no competition with the U.S. for dominance from the Chinese view,” Sun said. “They will prioritize protection of their assets and will not give up facilities such as a port without a fight.”

She said China expects something in return.

“What they are trying to do is to argue that Taiwan is fairly and squarely in China’s sphere of influence,” Sun said. “If the U.S. expects China to respect its own definition, then the U.S. should also respect China’s definition of the Western Pacific, especially Taiwan, to be a core national interest for China.”