The headlines last week were read with some astonishment: Mexico surpassed China as the main exporter to the United States. According to official data, published Wednesday, the Latin American country became the most important trading partner of the United States, which bought the largest amount of its goods and services from its neighbor in 2023. The reasons, however, have less to do with Mexico and more to do with current geopolitical tensions. The U.S. wants to stop buying from China, and Mexico is fighting for that slice of the pie.
In 2023, U.S. purchases of Chinese products reached $427.2 billion, a 20% decline compared to 2022. In contrast, Mexico exported $475.6 billion worth of products to the U.S., an increase of 4.6% compared to the previous year. This was enough for Mexico to become the top exporter to the U.S., displacing China for the first time in 21 years.
The change is the result of a trend that has been going on for years, buoyed by the growing and increasingly bitter rivalry between China and the United States. As a result of this rivalry, both countries have been imposing heavy tariffs since 2018 and Washington has sought to gradually diversify its suppliers, reduce its purchases from the Asian giant, and increase trading with countries considered more ideologically aligned. Additionally, the United States has had to deal with the logistical aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the bottlenecks it triggered in global supply chains.
The share of Chinese…
