China-US Trade Tensions: Colombia worried China-US dispute could negatively impact economy

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Europe

02:13

And in Colombia, some experts fear its economy could be slammed by the fall-out from the Washington-Beijing trade dispute. CGTN's Michelle Begue has more on that from Bogota.

Blanca Ruth Perdomo has been a rice farmer for almost half a century. Colombia is the second largest consumer of rice in Latin America. And the country's production meets its consumption needs.

BLANCA RUTH PERDOMO RICE FARMER "We hope that someday we can export rice and with the technology that is helping us advance."

Colombia has a free trade agreement with the United States, a strong rice exporter. Colombia's Rice Federation has been working hard to lower production costs and increase production with technology to compete with the low prices of US rice imports.

MICHELLE BEGUE BOGOTA "But as the US-China trade war continues, US producers are exploring other markets."

Colombia's rice federation worries the US' highly subsidized agricultural produce will be pushed onto Latin America.

RAFAEL HERNANDEZ GENERAL MANAGER OF FEDEARROZ "In the past, a large part of the produce that could reach us, has gone to China. When this trade stops, the pressure will fall on countries that especially have free trade agreements with the US, like Colombia, because they can push more rice than we need."

One economist worries about the ripple effects of the US-China trade war on the overall US economy which could also impact Colombia.

BEETHOVEN HERRERA, ECONOMIST NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBIA "Any protectionist measures that might lower the United States consumption rates or paralyze the economy would be bad for Colombia, because the United States buys half of our exports."

Colombia's rice farmers reached record levels of production and even had enough to export for the first time in their history. But a drop in the price of rice last year brought on a crisis. Despite challenges and the uncertainty to come, Colombia's rice farmers like Blanca Ruth remains optimistic.

BLANCA RUTH PERDOMO RICE FARMER "If we set our minds to it, we could even export to China."

Michelle Begue, CGTN, Bogota.