> Doug Henwood wrote:
> > But I'm sure there are those who will tell us that this is all an
> > illusion, and that US domination remains intact - some of the same
> > people who will tell us that the US economy is (always) on the verge
> > of a crash!
>
> I don't know what US dominance means anymore. What exactly are we
> fighting for? Our capitalists want the same things as their
> capitalists. Maybe 70 years ago ours were in a race with theirs
> over whose export share was highest. Now exports don't matter. GE
> doesn't care if stuff is made in upstate New York or in China. How
> would we know if the US was losing its dominance?
>
> Seth
It would be interesting if China eclipsed the US as Brazil's and then Latin America's number one trade and investment partner, but it has a long way to go (if it is getting there at all before the current business cycle of growth ends):
* "The United States accounted for 44.4 percent of Latin American exports and 31.8 percent of the region's imports last year."
* "While China's trade with Latin America is still small (only 4.6 percent of Latin America's total trade in 2004) compared with U.S.- Latin trade, it is growing at a much faster rate. Latin America's exports to China grew by 45.9 percent in 2004 to $21.7 billion, while imports from China grew by 53.0 percent in 2004 to $17.9 billion, according to a Latin Business Chronicle analysis of ECLAC data."
* "China's investment in Latin America has also been on the rise. In 2003 and 2004, China invested a combined $1.8 billion in Latin America, according to China's Commerce Ministry. All in all, accumulated Chinese direct investment in Latin America reached $4.6 [billion] by the end of 2004. That compares favorably with accumulated South Korean investments of $4.3 billion, ECLAC points out."
Source: <http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/reports/reports/0306/ trade.htm>.
And China's main export market is the US, and the number one exporter to it is Japan.
Things can change, but not that fast.
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org>