China's growing pull puts Brazil in a bind [View All]

SAO PAULO, Brazil — For 51 of its 52 years in business, brush and comb maker Escovas Fidalga was solidly profitable. Then last year, it plunged into the red. Ask boss Manolo Miguez why, and he fingers a culprit that would be familiar to many hard-pressed American manufacturers.

"Our biggest competition is Chinese imports. ... They started slowly, but today they take up 70% of the Brazilian market," says Miguez, the company director.

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China's sudden prominence in the Brazilian economy illustrates an emerging trend throughout Latin America. In a development that worries some in the U.S. Congress, Chinese executives and diplomats are fanning out in the USA's hemispheric backyard, signing deals and cultivating goodwill.

"China is expanding its investment down there. ... We have fallen a little bit behind the curve. China is very aggressive," says Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., who chairs the House Western Hemisphere subcommittee.

Irish Sun