By Marco Aquino
LIMA, July 31 (Reuters) – Peru will deepen its relations with the U.S., which it sees as a “strategic partner,” newly appointed Foreign Minister Carlos Espá said on Friday.
He added that he expects Washington to review President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs, and said Peru will also work to restore diplomatic ties with Mexico and Colombia, as well as take initial steps to rebuild relations with Venezuela.
Espá was named this week as part of President Keiko Fujimori’s incoming conservative cabinet. He spent years working at the U.S. embassy in Lima as communications director, a background that has fueled expectations of a foreign policy more closely aligned with Washington.
Fujimori was sworn in on Tuesday after winning June’s presidential runoff and has signaled she plans to strengthen cooperation with the U.S., noting “very significant space” for collaboration with the Trump administration.
Washington has mounted its most assertive push in years to shore up influence in Peru, a copper producer that has become a strategic partner for China.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau attended Fujimori’s inauguration in Lima this week.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Espá added that Peru was moving forward with plans to join the Shield of the Americas, a U.S.-backed initiative to combat transnational crime.
The foreign minister also said a bill to address forced labor has been submitted to the Peruvian Congress following Washington’s recent decision to impose tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on products from 60 trading partners, including Peru, over alleged lax enforcement of forced labor prohibitions.
Nearly half of the Peruvian products exported to the U.S., which totaled $10.15 billion last year, would be affected by the new tariffs, according to data from the Peruvian government.
“We are confident that once this law is passed, we will be in a better position to engage with the United States and explore the possibility of a review of those tariffs,” Espá said.
Espá also highlighted the importance of a rapprochement with Mexico, with which Peru severed diplomatic ties late last year after the Mexican government granted asylum to a former official of the ousted President Pedro Castillo’s government.
Mexico and Peru have not had ambassadorial relations since early 2023 following a dispute over the Mexican government’s support for Castillo.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino in Lima; Additional reporting by Lucinda Elliott in Buenos Aires; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Rod Nickel)
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