Crypto News: Supply Lines: US and Latin America

After several starts and stops, work on President Joe Biden's economic plan for Latin America is picking up, with more high-level meetings as the region's trading partners work to boost opportunities and development as an answer to poverty, migration pressures and Chinese influence.

Trade ministers from the 12 nations in the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity including US Trade Representative Katherine Tai met virtually last month for their first gathering since a presidential summit to launch the initiative in November. That event was pushed back several times last year. Ministers plan to meet in person in Ecuador this summer.

All the participating countries other than Ecuador, Uruguay and Barbados have free-trade deals with the US. The former two have asked to negotiate comprehensive deals, but the Biden administration has been unwilling to negotiate tariff-lowering agreements, putting focus instead on building more resilient supply chains for things like lithium and computer chips.

The group doesn't include traditionally more protectionist Brazil and Argentina, South America's two largest economies, but it's open for countries to join in the future.

And in the case of the latter, that future may be soon. Argentina's new president Javier Milei, has expressed interest in joining the initiative, as has Paraguay, said Chris Dodd, Biden's longtime Senate colleague and now special adviser for the Americas.

Dodd touts the effort as the first serious attempt to address the economic, security and political conditions in Latin American countries that historically have been the biggest source of migrants through a hemispheric platform focused on regional economic integration and competitiveness.

"If you really want to solve immigration challenges, you've got to deal with the underlying economic issues," he said in an interview in February. "You're never going to get people to stop migrating if they can't fulfill their aspirations at home."

—Eric Martin in Washington

Export strength | South Korea's exports continued to grow last month on the back of strong demand for semiconductors and other technology devices, supporting confidence among policymakers that the economy will see a solid first quarter. Average daily shipments increased 9.9% from a year earlier, according to data released Monday by the trade ministry. Without adjustment for the number of working days, headline exports rose 3.1% while overall imports decreased by 12.3%. The trade surplus came to $4.3 billion.

China's factory activity beat expectations in March, boosting optimism about the country's ability to achieve its ambitious growth goal of around 5% this year. Separately, Vietnam's economy slowed, weighed by an uneven growth in exports and factory output.
Ports along the US East Coast are modifying their operations to absorb cargo diverted from Baltimore harbor. The accident is leaving few options for some coal exporters. The auto sector is most exposed, DHL Chief Financial Officer Melanie Kreis told Bloomberg TV. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said he will head to Baltimore this week.
Provisions allowing the UK to sell products containing European Union parts to Canada tariff-free will expire on Monday, after the two countries failed to reach an agreement on extensions.
Romania and Bulgaria join the EU's Schengen Area on March 31, but not for road routes that are the lifeblood of their trade.
Nippon Steel's acquisition of US Steel would strengthen economic security ties between the US and Japan and help counter China's dominance in steel-making, according to a senior Japanese ruling party lawmaker.
A growing army of machines is improving ships' fuel efficiency by scraping algae, seaweed and barnacles off their hulls.

Transatlantic container rates are most likely to find support as freight is rerouted to other East Coast ports, but if enough cargo is diverted to the West, transpacific rates may be bolstered as well, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Officials in Baltimore will establish a temporary alternate channel on the northeast side of the main channel in the vicinity of the Francis Scott Key Bridge for commercially essential vessels.
Run SPLC after an equity ticker on Bloomberg to show critical data about a company's suppliers, customers and peers.
Use the AHOY function to track global commodities trade flows.
See DSET CHOKE for a dataset to monitor shipping chokepoints.
For freight dashboards, see {BI RAIL}, {BI TRCK} and {BI SHIP} and {BI 3PLS}
Click HERE for automated stories about supply chains.
On the Bloomberg Terminal, type NH FWV for FreightWaves content.
See BNEF for BloombergNEF's analysis of clean energy, advanced transport, digital industry, innovative materials, and commodities.

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