Mexican goods flow into US markets, outpacing Chinese imports – By Paul Wiseman (Associated Press) / Feb 8, 2024
Mexico is now the leading supplier of goods for the United States. This shift, a result of dialed-up Beijing-Washington tensions, sees the two neighboring North American countries strengthening trade.
For the first time in more than two decades, Mexico last year surpassed China as the leading source of goods imported by the United States. The shift reflects the growing tensions between Washington and Beijing as well as U.S. efforts to import from countries that are friendlier and closer to home.
Figures released Feb. 7 by the U.S. Commerce Department show that the value of goods imported by the United States from Mexico rose nearly 5% from 2022 to 2023, to more than $475 billion. At the same time, the value of Chinese imports tumbled 20% to $427 billion.
The last time that Mexican goods imported by the United States exceeded the value of China’s imports was in 2002.
Economic relations between the U.S. and China have severely deteriorated in recent years as Beijing has fought aggressively on trade and made ominous military gestures in the Far East.
