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For First Time in Two Decades, U.S. Buys More From Mexico Than China
The United States bought more goods from Mexico than China in 2023 for the first time in 20 years, evidence of how much global trade patterns have shifted.
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A factory in the northern Mexico industrial hub of Saltillo. Mexico was among the markets that American consumers and businesses turned to last year for car parts, shoes, toys and raw materials. Credit...Daniel Becerril/Reuters
By Ana Swanson and Simon Romero
Ana Swanson reported from Washington and Seoul, and Simon Romero from Mexico City.
Feb. 7, 2024
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In the depths of the pandemic, as global supply chains buckled and the cost of shipping a container from China soared nearly twentyfold, Marco Villarreal spied an opportunity.
In 2021, Mr. Villarreal resigned as Caterpillar’s director general in Mexico and began nurturing ties with companies looking to shift manufacturing from China to Mexico. He found a client in Hisun, a Chinese producer of all-terrain vehicles, which hired Mr. Villarreal to establish a $152 million manufacturing site in Saltillo, an industrial hub in northern Mexico.
Mr. Villarreal said foreign companies, particularly those seeking to sell within North America, saw Mexico as a viable alternative to China for several reasons, including the simmering trade tensions between the United States and China.
“The stars are aligning for Mexico,” he said.
New data released on Wednesday showed that Mexico outpaced China for the first time in 20 years to become America’s top source of official imports — a significant shift that highlights how increased tensions between Washington and Beijing are altering trade flows.
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The United States’ trade deficit with China narrowed significantly last year, with goods imports from the country dropping 20 percent to $427.2 billion, the data shows. American consumers and businesses turned to Mexico, Europe, South Korea, India, Canada and Vietnam for auto parts, shoes, toys and raw materials.
Imports from China fell last year U.S. imports of goods by origin
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
By The New York Times
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Ana Swanson covers trade and international economics for The Times and is based in Washington. She has been a journalist for more than a decade. More about Ana Swanson
Simon Romero is a correspondent in Mexico City, covering Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. He has served as The Times’s Brazil bureau chief, Andean bureau chief and international energy correspondent. More about Simon Romero
A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 8, 2024, Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Mexico Bests China In Imports To the U.S. . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
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