Traditionally, the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) were the main trade partners for Latin America (LA). When China and other emerging countries burst onto the scene as major global players at the beginning of the 21st century, it brought major changes to the direction of trade for LA countries. For all of these countries, trade with Asia has been growing in both volume and value. In some cases, this increase has benefited from trade and integration agreements while in others there appears to have been no need for these. However, Asia’s growing importance as a trade partner for LA has been uneven: there are major differences between the continent’s different subregions. This infographic summarizes the LA’s current main trade partners, the trade patterns that predominate in these linkages, and the main transformations that have taken place over the last decade.
