Mexico Will Soon Become The US's Largest Trading Partner

MEXICO

Good Neighbors

US-Mexico relations may have taken a bumpy course over the past few years over immigration but bilateral trade between the two neighbors has been soaring, suggesting Mexico could soon become the largest foreign market for American goods.

US census data released last week showed US-Mexico trade rose to $97.4 billion over the first two months of the year, topping America’s trade with Canada and China, the Washington Post reported.

Those numbers could seesaw – especially as Mexican business has benefited from the hardball tariffs on Chinese goods introduced by the Trump administration even as the same measures reduced US-China trade. But with the finalizing of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the economies of the two countries are likely to become more integrated, according to analysts.

For Luis de la Calle, a former undersecretary of the economy in Mexico, the latest numbers signal a natural course.

“Mexico is a very important market for the United States, and it’s going to become the biggest market for the United States in the world,” he said.