Latin America and the Caribbean Represents One Fifth of the United States’ Foreign Trade

Latin America and the Caribbean represents one fifth of the United States’ foreign trade, according to the document United States Trade Developments 2014-2015, published by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

According to the study, prepared by ECLAC’s Office in Washington, Asia represented 28.8% of U.S. foreign trade in 2013, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (22%) and the European Union (17%). More specifically, Latin American and Caribbean countries represented 24.9% of total exports from the United States and 19.2% of its total imports.

Of all the U.S. imports from Latin America and the Caribbean, 70% came from Mexico. The report also notes that the region’s exports to the United States include a greater variety of products (4,808) than the ones sent to the European Union (4,395) or to Asia (3,963).

In addition, in the last decade, about one third of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Latin America and the Caribbean originated in the United States, which continues to be the main foreign investor in Mexico (32%), Central America (30%) and Colombia (18%), according to data from 2014.

The document also makes mention of the two major international free-trade agreements in which the United States is involved: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which was signed last February 4 in New Zealand by twelve countries, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which the North American country is negotiating with the European Union.

Additionally, the report provides data on trade and investments between Latin America and the Caribbean and Canada.