HONG KONG (AP) — Low-priced Chinese electric vehicles and cheap e-commerce goods are gaining ground in Latin American countries like Brazil and Mexico and local governments and industries are growing alarmed.

Latin America plays a strategically important role for China as Beijing forges closer ties with fast growing markets like Brazil and Chile.

Chinese automakers and other manufacturers facing sluggish demand as the economy slows are targeting customers abroad. Mexico, Brazil and Chile are among countries which have rolled out measures to curb some cheap Chinese imports, looking to protect their own industries.

Here are the main takeaways from AP’s report:

Chinese imports flood Latin American markets

With prices lower than their competitors thanks to massive government subsidies and support and low production costs, Chinese car brands are zooming into Latin America.

More than 80% of the over 61,000 EVs sold in 2024 in Brazil were Chinese brands, predominantly BYD and GWM. In Mexico, sales of Chinese-made cars accounted for about 15% of the domestic market last year, according to a Mexican automotive industry group, a stark contrast to how the U.S. has been keeping Chinese cars out of its market with hefty tariffs.

Chinese carmaker BYD, which overtook Tesla as the world’s biggest EV maker, recently unloaded from its vessel more than 5,800 EVs and hybrid vehicles in Argentina, racing to profit from a policy allowing up to 50,000 electric and hybrid vehicles to be imported tariff-free.

Low-priced goods from Chinese e-commerce platforms, led by Temu and Shein, also are flooding Latin American markets.

China is catching up fast in technologies and innovation in products such as EVs, said José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean which is headquartered in Chile. “You can’t think of China as an exporter of anything that’s, let’s say, basic anymore,” he said.

Mexico, Brazil are hitting back to protect their industries

China needs Latin America’s vast natural resources for its hungry industries, from lithium in Brazil to copper in Chile and fishmeal in Peru. But trade deficits with China have been growing across the region as its global surplus rose to a record $1.2 trillion last year.

Mexico’s trade deficit with China was $101 billion between January and October 2025, while Argentina’s trade deficit with China rose to nearly $8.2 billion last year.

China’s exports to Mexico surged roughly 150% between 2017 and 2024, according to research from ING Bank, as shipments of autos and auto parts more than tripled.