In Brazil’s westernmost state of Acre, a gleaming new section of highway is being built to carry President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s hopes of economic transformation.

It also risks bearing the full weight of Donald Trump’s protectionist policies.

The construction of a bridge and access roads over a 10-kilometer corridor leading to the Peruvian border may seem like a modest project for such a load. Its significance lies in being part of a whole network of new or upgraded arteries intended to link Brazil’s vast territory to its South American neighbors, from there to the Pacific Ocean — and on to China.