The United States and China were the main sources of imports to Mexico in 2020.
By far, these two countries concentrated 63.1% of all Mexican foreign purchases.
The United States contributed 43.9% of them, or 168,224 million dollars.
For its part, China accounted for 19.2%, or 73.608 million dollars, according to data from the Ministry of the Economy.
According to the OECD, Mexico’s economic growth in recent decades has been driven by open trade and investment policies, export growth, and increasing participation in global value chains.
The country has progressively emerged as a major hub in the manufacturing, automotive, electronics, and financial services sectors, and multinational companies from these industries have relocated or invested in Mexico.
Both its proximity to the United States, as well as its integration with the US economy through trade, has been an engine of the country’s economic transformation.
Imports to Mexico
Mexico is increasingly dependent on manufacturing exports and trades mainly with the United States, although its trade flows with China have also grown.
More recently, Mexico exported products to China worth 5.325 million dollars from January to July 2021, which represented a year-on-year increase of 32.9% and a record.
While Mexico has benefited to some extent from China’s demand for raw materials, it has been competing with that nation in the export of manufactured goods, such as electronics.
In the first half of the current year, Mexican exports to the Chinese market of copper minerals stood out for 1,857 million dollars (an increase of 67.4%), lead minerals for 391 million (an increase of 119.7%) and gearboxes for 132 million (an advance of 112.9 percent).
For its part, Mexico has increased its integration with the United States and, together with Canada, has put into effect the USMCA since July 2020, a free trade agreement that toughens the rules of origin of the automotive sector, forcing a greater regional content.
Other notable origins of imports to Mexico were: South Korea (14,691 million dollars), Japan (13,888 million), Germany (13,868 million), Taiwan (8,750 million), Canada (8,302 million), Vietnam (6,614 million) and Brazil (5,496 million).
