E-commerce as a battlefield in the US–China tech race: Effects on the global workplace in Brazil

The competition between the United States and China is often framed as a second Cold War. While the first Cold War coincided with rising wages, at least within European welfare states, today's rivalry tends toward a race to the bottom in labour conditions. Contemporary strategic competition is driven less by ideology and more by the pursuit of influence through control over productive, financial, and digital infrastructures, where labour exploitation remains central. This paper examines the implications for Brazil's emerging economy, focusing on the expansion of Chinese and U.S. investments in the country's e-commerce sector, which attracts firms like Amazon, Shein, Temu, and AliExpress. We ask whether this intensified competition enhances Brazil's bargaining power in ways that could improve domestic labour conditions. Drawing on extensive empirical evidence, including interviews, statistical data, and policy reports from the pivotal garment sector, our conclusion is negative. Surging investment in logistics and digital infrastructure has been accompanied by strategic agreements, particularly between China, domestic suppliers, and existing platforms. Yet Brazil's structural constraints, aggravated by intensified global competition, have weakened domestic industrial development and labour leverage. This case illustrates a broader pattern: intensified geoeconomic rivalry has deepened integration into global networks of labour informalisation and precarity.