OLMOS, Peru—This sun-baked valley of northern Peru, where foxes roamed a few years ago, is now a busy agricultural testament to globalization, powered with investments from as far away as Sweden and Israel. And here as elsewhere in the region, Europe and Asia—particularly China—are seen as key markets for securing future growth.

In Peru, which has emerged as South America’s strongest free trade proponent, thousands of workers are planting asparagus, mangos and peppers for export as part of a diversification effort to lessen reliance on mining. China is a key consumer.

Meanwhile, Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri is undoing his predecessor’s protectionist policies while participating with Brazil in talks to seal a free trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur, the South American customs union. Chilean officials said they are open to joining negotiations for a 16-nation trade accord led by Beijing.

And even as Mexico tries to salvage a trade agreement with the U.S., it is proposing using the Pacific Alliance trade bloc, a four-nation Latin American trade group, to increase ties across the Pacific. “We need to reach for a branch to Asia,” Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said in an interview. “The Pacific Alliance can be a very efficient mechanism.”

The developments point to a broadening embrace of the global economy in much of Latin America as the U.S. veers toward protectionism.