Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - A return to trade protectionism led by the United States could cause serious risks for the global economy, Latin American trade ministers attending the fifth Business Meeting of the Pacific Alliance in Mexico said.

Mexico's Minister of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo said the "profound change" coming from Washington obliges other countries to assume new responsibilities for ensuring free trade. "We always expect that these swings in strategy are temporary..." Guajardo said at the summit, which began Monday in Puerto Vallarta. "Otherwise, there could be serious consequences for the most vulnerable populations. No one suffers more from closed economies than the poor," he added.

Colombian trade and industry minister, Maria Lorena Gutierrez, said the world is facing the most complicated moment in its trade history. "There is a clear protectionist trend mixed with certain populism," she said. "The consequences, if this trend continued, would be more conflict, not only in trade but also in economic and social matters, including vital aspects like security," she added.

Gutierrez also expressed concern that the efforts made to create multilateral organizations like the World Trade Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development could be lost.

However, Peru's Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Roger Valencia, suggested the current trade conflict begun by the United States could be temporary. He underlined the importance of the bloc to make joint efforts under such circumstances. "The Pacific Alliance was born out of necessity and the discovery that the power we have is in working together and integrating ourselves," he said.

Chile's Director General of International Economic Relations, Rodrigo Yanez, said it is important for the Pacific Alliance nations to look toward other zones, including the Asia-Pacific region, an obligatory step in consolidating trade with this region.

The Pacific Alliance, a trade bloc founded in 2011 by members Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile to promote trade with Asia, represents 38% of Latin America's GDP and 50 percent of the region's trade with the world.

Collectively, its members are the world's top exporter of goods ranging from avocados to copper to lead, and are the fifth-largest recipient of foreign direct investment. That has drawn interest from other countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore, which are all in the process of becoming associate members.

But the summit began without one key figure expected to attend: Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, an anti-establishment leftist and free-trade skeptic. The summit was supposed to be Lopez Obrador's debut on the international stage ahead of his inauguration on December 1.

But the politician known as "AMLO" pulled out on Friday, July 20, saying it would not be proper to attend because electoral authorities have not yet officially declared him president-elect. Electoral authorities have until September 6, 2018 to officially certify the results of the July 1 election.

The other leaders at the summit were Sebastian Pinera of Chile, Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and Martin Vizcarra of Peru, as well as guests Michel Temer of Brazil, Mauricio Macri of Argentina and Tabare Vazquez of Uruguay.

With the exception of Vazquez, they are all center-right, market-friendly leaders - the faces of Latin America's recent shift to the right.

The rest of the region is anxious to see whether the new president of Latin America's second-largest economy, after Brazil, will stick to his nationalistic guns or govern with the more pragmatic, pro-business tone he showed in the home-stretch of the campaign.

Lopez Obrador has vowed to be fiscally responsible, safeguard free enterprise and work together with the outgoing administration to continue renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. and Canada, a deal he had criticized in the past.

Jesus Seade, the incoming Mexican negotiator in the complex NAFTA talks, told reporters in Puerto Vallarta he was looking to finalize the process. "All the positions that have been put forward are good ones, those that have been rejected were rejected for a reason. Now we need to find a way to close the deal," he said.