Mexico achieved a record share in imports of products to the United States, where it has consolidated itself as the first external supplier, according to data released this Tuesday by the Census Bureau.
From January to August 2024, of all US external purchases, Mexico contributed 15.7%, which implies two percentage points more compared to the same period of the previous year.
In all of 2023, Mexico’s share was 15.4%, a historical high, with a generally increasing trend in the last decade, from 12.6% in 2014.
The other two largest suppliers in that market, China and Canada, registered declines in their market share. Comparing the first eight months of 2023 and 2024, China’s share was reduced from 13.5 to 13.1% and Canada’s share fell from 13.6 to 12.9 percent.
“We are close to Mexico’s 16% share. In 1988 it was 5%, it has multiplied by approximately three. China’s share has decreased. There is a great opportunity to grow in market share towards the United States,” said Marcelo Ebrard, Secretary of Economy, on Tuesday at a forum organized by Bloomberg in Monterrey.
In August 2024, exports of goods from Mexico to the United States grew at an interannual rate of 12.5%, to 42,748 million dollars.
For its part, Canada’s sales to that same market were 33,036 million dollars, a decrease of 0.1%, and the corresponding sales from China totaled 39,851 million dollars, reflecting a growth of 8.6 percent.
Ebrard highlighted that Mexico is the first exporter of manufactures to the United States, while among the main products of US sales to the Mexican market are basic grains.
The official also anticipated that one of the actions of the new federal government will be to boost added value in Mexican exports, an indicator that has remained almost flat so far this century.
Exports that contain domestic added value from the beginning of the production chain and that are exported to a country for later re-exportation went from 15.35% in the period from 2001 to 2006, to 19.94% from 2007 to 2012 and then to 19.49% from 2013 to 2018.
One of the objectives within the framework of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) is to strengthen national content and add value to the production chain.
We are going to increase national content as much as we can,” added Ebrard at the event.
From January to August 2024, at year-on-year rates, Mexican exports to the United States rose 5.8%, to $334.73 billion; those to China increased 1.3%, to $279.098 billion; and those to Canada fell 1.1%, to $274.704 billion.
Ebrard also highlighted that Mexico is close to becoming the first destination for U.S. merchandise exports to the world.
Source: eleconomista
