China's trade with Caribbean countries remained to expand at a rapid pace in the Jan-July period, with the total trade volume reaching 7.57 billion U.S. dollars, indicating an annual growth rate of 13.3 percent, said China’s ministry of commerce on Monday.
The fast expansion has reflected the tremendous vitality in China-Caribbean trade, said Lin Feng, director general of the American and Oceania Affairs Department of the ministry, at a press conference in Beijing ahead of the upcoming Ministerial Conference of the fourth China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum.
Briefing media on the last data released by China Customs on the country’s trade with Caribbean countries, Lin highlighted the steady expansion of bilateral trade in recent years. In 2023 alone, the total trade volume reached 11.8 billion U.S. dollars, marking an impressive 10-fold increase over two decades.
Notably from 2018 to 2023, the bilateral trade saw an average annual rate of 10.2 percent, showcasing the resilience and vitality of economic ties between China and the Caribbean region, he added.
At the same time, Chinese enterprises have launched a diverse range of cooperation projects in the region spanning various sectors including agriculture, processing, trade and logistics, making a considerable contribution to bolstering local employment, tax revenues and export earnings, said Lin.
China-Caribbean cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has also yielded fruitful results, according to Lin.
"China's cooperation with the Caribbean region in the field of infrastructure under the BRI framework has also yielded fruitful results. By end 2023, 10 countries in the Caribbean region signed BRI cooperation documents with China. Chinese enterprises have initiated a batch of landmark projects and ‘small yet beautiful’ projects covering various sectors such as transportation, energy, housing and people’s livelihood, substantially driving local economic development,” said Lin.
Aiming to facilitate bilateral economic and trade cooperation, the Ministerial Conference of the fourth China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum is set to open in south China's Hainan Province from Thursday to Saturday.
China-Caribbean trade remains rapid annual growth in Jan-July: ministry of commerce
Los Angeles is grappling with rising costs and delays in its wildfire recovery process, as tariffs on construction materials imposed during the Trump administration compound the challenges.
The devastating wildfires recently destroyed over 17,000 homes and businesses, leaving communities urgently pushing forward with reconstruction.
The Trump administration has recently rolled out new tariffs on a wide range of construction materials, including steel and aluminum, from the main trading partners of the United States, such as Canada, Mexico, and China. This has significantly driven up costs, further complicating the recovery efforts
"As the city and county of Los Angeles move aggressively to rebuild the wildfire areas in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, and up in Altadena, to build those houses, we need softwood lumber, aluminum, and steel from Canada," said Gene Soroka, executive director of Port of Los Angeles.
While the tariffs aim to boost domestic production, the transition will take time. In the interim, the shortage of materials is creating ripple effects across the construction sector.
"We are still handling a lot of imported steel, despite the tariffs because there's not enough American manufacturing of steel right now. So, one of the unintended consequences that this has done the wrong way is you don't have enough steel. That impacts construction, that impacts economic growth across the board," said Weston Labar, chief strategy office of Waterfront Logistics.
According to the Associated General Contractors of America, housing costs could skyrocket by almost 50 percent, widening the gap between insurance payouts and actual rebuilding expenses. It may force many homeowners to delay or even abandon their reconstruction plans, prolonging the housing shortage in Los Angeles.
Tariffs are also driving up prices for other products, impacting recovery efforts.
"We need appliances from Mexico, furniture from China, and all of those prices are going up, whether anticipatory, or real as these imports are coming across our port complex. So, we've got to have some pretty detailed discussions about this because families who want to rebuild, businesses who want to get back into the office are going to be impacted by these tariffs one way or another," said Soroka.
As Los Angeles strives to recover, the economic uncertainty caused by tariffs presents a formidable obstacle.
Tariffs add strain to Los Angeles wildfire recovery efforts
