The Laredo-Nuevo Laredo crossing ranks first among the main rail border bridges between Mexico and the United States.
Between the two countries, trade in goods with a customs value of $839,892 million dollars was recorded in 2024, according to data from the Department of Transportation.
Of that amount, 334.041 billion dollars corresponded to U.S. exports and 505.851 billion dollars to Mexican exports.
Border Rail Bridges
On December 17, 2024, Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CPKC) announced the completion of a new international rail bridge over the Rio Grande. This structure connects Laredo, Texas, with Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. Thanks to this project, CPKC’s capacity to transport cargo between the United States and Mexico will more than double, according to the company itself.
In 2024, bilateral trade through rail transport was 98,251 million dollars. Of that amount, $63.932 billion were exports to the United States and $34.319 billion were sales to Mexico.
These are the main railroad border bridges between the two countries and the trade that passed through each of them, in millions of dollars:
- Laredo, Texas-Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas: 46,396.
- Eagle Pass, Texas-Piedras Negras, Coahuila: 32,563.
- Nogales, Arizona-Nogales, Sonora: 8,693.
- El Paso, Texas-Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua: 6,974.
- Brownsville, Texas-Matamoros, Tamaulipas: 2,778.
Consequently, the Laredo, Texas-Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas crossing accounted for 47.2% of total U.S.-Mexico rail trade in 2024.
Logistics
In 2023, 73.26% of Mexico’s foreign trade cargo was transported by land borders, while the remaining 26.74% used ports. This dominance of land traffic highlights Mexico’s strong border connection with the United States, its main trading partner.
In addition, the high share of overland trade reflects economic integration with the United States and Canada. This relationship is boosted by agreements such as the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA), which facilitates trade in the region.
The Nuevo Laredo and Piedras Negras borders account for 64.48% of imports and 71.83% of land exports. This high volume of trade flow underscores the strategic importance of these routes for trade between Mexico and the United States.