LIMA, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Peru should make use of regional bloc the Pacific Alliance to boost its international trade, former Peruvian deputy minister of foreign trade, Luis Alonso Garcia, said Saturday, against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump stepping up tariffs on imports.

"It's time for Peru to bet much more on the Pacific Alliance, with an eye to opening trade and economic development," Garcia told Xinhua.

The international trade expert and lawyer thinks the bloc, a grouping of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru to promote trade between its members and push forward regional integration, can help Peru better its global trade, especially trade with Asian countries.

Peru should make use of the bloc to open up to trade and promote regional integration, Garcia said.

Lima's exports to other alliance members amounted to 360 million U.S. dollars in the first two months of 2018, 5.5 percent more than in the same period a year earlier, data from the Lima Chamber of Commerce showed.

Regarding the impact of the new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on the bloc, Garcia said its member countries need to adjust trade policies to counter the protectionist measures.

"I think it's an opportunity for the Pacific Alliance, because the bloc can establish a true regional integration scheme that will help countries that believe in opening up to the world," he said.

The Pacific Alliance represents 37 percent of Latin America's total gross domestic product. The 13th summit of the bloc will be held in Mexico on July 24-25.