Trade Competition from China OSVALDO ROSALES
and within countries.
My colleagues and I at the UN
Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean analyzed U.S., EU and Latin American imports from four selected
countries (Argentina, Brazil,
Colombia, and Mexico)—all of
which have developed different
trade relations directly and indirectly with China—and China, to
understand how their products
in third markets are affected by
Chinese exports. In addition, by
looking at domestic production,
import trends in intermediate
inputs, consumption patterns,
and the proportion of demand
for products of Chinese origin,
we determined the domestic industries most affected by imports
from China.
FIGURE 1
Latin American Industries Affected by
Chinese Competition in Third Markets,
2005–2010 (Selected Countries)
MARKETS
INDUSTRY
COUNTRY AFFECTED
UNITED
STATES
Wood products
Brazil
Chemicals and
chemical products
Argentina, Brazil,
Colombia
Machinery and
equipment
Argentina, Brazil,
Mexico
Electrical machinery
and apparatus
Brazil, Mexico
Communications
equipment
Mexico
EUROPEAN
UNION
Wood products
Brazil
COMPETITION IN
THIRD MARKETS
To analyze competition in third markets, we se- lected industries exporting to the U.S., the EU and Latin
America (approximated by South
America and Mexico), and traced
the evolution of market share between 2005 and 2010 (or the most
recent year in the four countries
mentioned above). This was compared to the evolution of China’s
participation in the same markets during the same period.
Subsequently, we selected those
industries where China’s overall
market increased in comparison
to the four selected countries. In this way, we could determine which industries were most affected by Chinese competition in third markets.
Our study showed that the sectors that experienced
the greatest impact in all four countries—all of it negative—were industrial machinery and equipment, office
machinery, electrical equipment and metal products
[see figure 1].
Basic metals
All
Other transport
equipment
Brazil
SOUTH
AMERICA
AND
MEXICO
Fabricated metal
products
Colombia
Machinery and
equipment
All
Office and comput-
ing machinery
Mexico
Electrical machinery
and apparatus
Brazil
Source: ECLAC Division of International Trade and Integration, on the basis of UN COMTRADE data
The four countries have seen their market share decline in both high- and low-tech products in the U.S.
and Latin America. In 2009–2010, China overtook the
selected countries in total imports in both markets
[See figure 4].
In the U.S. market, Chinese competition has affected
a large group of domestically produced goods, especially
electronics and electrical machinery, radio and televi-
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Americas Quarterly WINTER 2012
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