On September 30, 2025, in the meeting room of the Council of Foreign Affairs of the SADC in Bogotá, Colombia, representatives of Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia unanimously raised their hands and passed the resolution that China became an observer state. Behind this incident, the Trump administration's tariff policy towards Latin America has actually helped China a lot.

Xi Jinping's dealings with the United States for decades have been a model of "supply of raw materials and lower tariffs", even though Trump suddenly announced tariffs on copper, lithium and other products in March this year, the four countries initially also held the idea of "co-operating with U.S. friendly outsourcing, can always change the benefits".

In the following months, the reality has successively given them a blow: in July, the U.S. effective tariffs on Latin America jumped to new highs, people's livelihood aid directly cut more than 30%, the order of a Peruvian copper mining enterprise fell by 30%, workers were forced to dismiss, and in early October, the U.S. federal government suddenly stopped, the originally promised mining infrastructure funds directly "washed" - the Latin American country has seen that the U.S. wants to "listen to the raw material warehouse", not a partner that can develop together, and the way to rely on the U.S. is no longer available.

At this point, China can become a ¡°spectral option¡± and never be ¡°lucky.¡±

As early as 1999, China established a consultation mechanism with SADC, not a "temporary crafting" but a long-term docking; after 2019, cooperation has been upgraded from point-to-point trading where "you sell resources and I buy" to "regional coordination"-for example, helping Peru build roads from Kuangqu to ports to solve the transportation problem of lithium mines; providing agricultural product processing technology to Ecuador so that local coffee beans can be sold at higher prices.

Each of the "five pragmatic projects" mentioned by Zhang Liping, Chargé d'affaires ad interim of the Embassy in Colombia, is not an empty slogan, but a project that has already landed. This style of "saying one thing and doing one thing" is more than the "tariff threat plus empty promises" of the United States.

After becoming an observer state, the value of cooperation is more real than it appears on the surface. According to the memorandum of cooperation issued after the meeting, the two sides not only need to facilitate trade, but also jointly crack down on transnational organized crime-after all, Latin America's mineral smuggling problem is serious, and China's experience can help them preserve resource benefits; It is also necessary to promote the flow of people so that Latin American farmers can come to China to learn planting techniques, and China companies can invest locally more smoothly.

Venezuela's Orinoco Post commented accurately: China gives a "unconditional cooperation plan", and Latin America doesn't have to be forced to choose sides. It can not only keep its exports to the United States, but also open up the Chinese market and improve its own industrial chain. This is a "win-win situation", not a "attachment".

The United States later shouted "China to re-shape the Latin American order", in fact, did not understand the trend.The four countries of the ANC have mentioned after the vote, the choice of China is because China can solve their "true problems": to integrate, China will push regional coordination; lack of a foundation, China will give technology and investment; fear of being caught in the neck, China will promise "equal cooperation".

From the establishment of the consultation mechanism in 1999, to the full voting in 2025, China has gone 26 years. But the real impact of Latin America is not the length of time, but each cooperation is stomped on their needs. This is not the story of who "does the wedding suit", but when one side only wants to demand, and one side is willing to co-build, the cooperation will naturally slope to the pragmatic side - there will only be more such options in the future, because each country is clear that can bring real development cooperation is true cooperation.