President Obama gets set to talk trade with counterparts in Brazil, Chile and El Salvador.

JEREMY HOBSON: Today, President Obama kicks off a five-day trip to South and Central America. First stop: Brazil, South America’s largest economy which has been growing like gangbusters despite the weak global economy.

DAN GRECH: When Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, the U.S. was Brazil’s top trading partner. Today, China is number one.

Peter Hakim is with the Inter American Dialogue. He says China has a voracious appetite for Brazilian raw materials, such as iron, soy beans and oil.

PETER HAKIM: Trade with China has risen something like five times in the last 10 years. It’s really pulled Brazil through the economic crisis without much damage.
Exports to China helped Brazil’s economy grow more than 7 percent last year. But Brazil, like the U.S., has a love-hate relationship with China.

Complete interview via Market Place.