Chile’s Kast courts China day after US hits exports with forced labour tariff

Chilean president, who campaigned on aligning Chile with Trump, meets Beijing delegation as his party claims Washington cannot be trusted

Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast received China’s ambassador to Santiago, Niu Qingbao, at the La Moneda Palace on Friday morning, in an encounter that lasted more than an hour and marked the first meeting between the two men since the right-wing leader took office in March.

The USTR first proposed it on June 3, opening a window for the Chilean foreign ministry and the export associations to make their case.

Santiago said in a statement that it would keep talking to the Trump administration to improve access conditions, including the exclusion of products it considers essential to the country’s export basket.