For only the second time in recent history, Mexico was the top overall U.S. trading partner for the year.
Mexico’s trade with the U.S. rose 2.5% year over year (y/y) to $798 billion in 2023, boosted by exports of gasoline and other fuels and imports of passenger vehicles.
Canada ranked No. 2, with two-way trade with the U.S. falling 2.37% y/y to $773.94 billion. China ranked third, with trade falling 16.73% y/y to $575.03 billion.
In addition, the port of entry in Laredo, Texas, was the No. 1-ranked international trade gateway in the U.S., totaling $320 billion. It was the first time Laredo was the nation’s No. 1 overall trade port for the year.
The majority of cross-border commerce in Laredo was with Mexico, totaling $312 billion in 2023. China ranked No. 2 for trade through Laredo at $1.8 billion last year.
Trade experts said Mexico’s emergence as a global trade power arises from the growth of nearshoring south of the border amid the continued strained U.S.-China trade relations.
“Mexico’s expanding manufacturing base has offered an alternative to producing in China,” according to research by Luis Torres, senior business economist in the San Antonio Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. “While data on recent nearshoring is thin and evidence of it is largely anecdotal, increased protectionism and related industrial policy are consistent with less global trade, more regional trade, and nearshoring and reshoring.”
The first time Mexico and the U.S. were top trading partners for the year was 2019, when commerce totaled $612.8 billion, compared to Canada’s $611.4 billion and China’s $555.6 billion.
Canada was the top trading partner of the U.S. from the 1970s through 2014. China earned the No. 1 ranking from 2015 through 2018. Canada regained the top spot in 2021 and 2022.
The top three imports from Mexico to the U.S. in 2023 were passenger vehicles ($44.7 billion) auto parts ($34.9 billion) and computer chips ($12 billion), according to Census Bureau data analyzed by WorldCity.
The top exports from the U.S. to Mexico were gasoline and other fuels ($36 billion), auto parts ($20.1 billion) and passenger vehicles ($232 million).
While Mexico ended 2023 as the top U.S. trading partner, ranking No. 1 for 10 of the past 12 months, Canada was the ranked No. 1 trade partner in December at $61.1 billion.
Mexico ranked No. 2 in December at $60.4 billion, while China was No. 3 at $46.1 billion. Mexico also ranked No. 2 in April.
The port of entry in Laredo has been the No. 1 international trade gateway in the U.S. for 11 consecutive months.
In December, Laredo’s total commerce was $24.4 billion. The Port of Los Angeles ranked No. 2 at $23.9 billion, while Chicago O’Hare International Airport was No. 3 and reported $22.7 billion in trade.
In 2023, more than 7.35 million cargo trucks crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, while over 6 million tractor-trailers crossed the U.S. and Canadian border.
Laredo was the No. 1 border crossing in the U.S. for trucks, with 2.93 million tractor-trailers last year. The port of entry in Otay Mesa, California, ranked No. 2 with over 1 million cargo truck crossings, while the Ysleta-Zaragoza International Bridge in El Paso, Texas, was No. 3 with 640,667 trucks.
The Ambassador Bridge in Detroit was the busiest port of entry on the Canadian border, handling 1.56 million cargo trucks in 2023, followed by the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, New York, with 892,838 truck crossings last year. The Blue Water Bridge connecting Port Huron, Michigan, with Sarnia, Ontario, ranked third with 782,260 trucks.
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