In 2023, Mexico turned the world’s high exporter of products to the US, surpassing China.
Now it additionally the highest purchaser of U.S. items, outpacing Canada, in line with U.S. authorities information printed on Wednesday.
Within the first eight months of 2025, Mexico imported items from the U.S. value US $226.4 billion, in line with information printed by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Mexico’s outlay on U.S. items within the interval was 0.3% increased than Canada’s expenditure on imports from its southern neighbor. China ranked because the third largest importer of U.S. items, with an outlay of $73.6 billion between January and August.
The El Economista newspaper reported that Mexico has beforehand ranked as the highest purchaser of U.S. items in “remoted months,” however not over an prolonged interval, as has been the case this yr.
“That is the primary time in historical past that Mexico is the most important export marketplace for the US,” the Enterprise Coordinating Council (CCE), an umbrella group of Mexican enterprise teams, stated in a assertion.
Mexico’s outlay on U.S. items elevated 0.6% yearly within the first eight months of the yr, whereas Canada’s expenditure on such merchandise declined 3.9%. A “Purchase Canadian” motion emerged in response to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on a spread of Canadian items.
The entire worth of U.S. exports within the first eight months of the yr was $1.43 trillion pesos, that means that 15.8% of the US’ export income got here from items shipped to Mexico.
In response to an infographic based mostly on Census Bureau information that was shared to social media by Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Esteban Moctezuma, Mexico is the highest export market for a lot of U.S. industries, together with meat and livestock processing; oil, gasoline and power extraction; iron and metal manufacturing; and electrical and digital gear.
The CCE famous that Mexico is a big importer of U.S. cereals, electronics, metal and iron merchandise, automobiles, equipment and gas (together with gasoline and pure gasoline).
México se acaba de convertir en el destino NÚMERO UNO de exportación de 🇺🇸#EUA.
De acuerdo con @uscensusbureau, por primera vez, somos su principal mercado de exportación.
Tan solo en agosto, 🇺🇸#EUA exportó 29 mil millones de dólares en bienes a 🇲🇽#México.
Este gran logro… pic.twitter.com/97ZBUVJJ2D
— Esteban Moctezuma Barragán (@emoctezumab) November 20, 2025
In response to the Workplace of the U.S. Commerce Consultant (USTR), the US’ main exports to Mexico are “electrical equipment, equipment, power merchandise, automobiles, and plastics, along with over $30 billion [annually] in agricultural merchandise, together with corn, pork and pork merchandise, dairy merchandise, and soybeans.”
The CCE stated that Mexico is the “principal export vacation spot” for twenty-four U.S. sectors and the “second most essential market” for 50 extra ones.
“In whole, Mexico occupies the primary or second place as a purchaser in 75% of U.S. export industries,” the group stated.
The CCE additionally famous that Mexico was the primary or second largest export marketplace for 26 U.S. states in 2024. For Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, California and Oregon, it ranked No. 1.
Alfonso Muñoz, an economist on the Mexico Metropolis consulting agency CMM, advised The New York Occasions that the publication of the info exhibiting that Mexico is now a bigger purchaser of U.S. items than Canada marks an “inflection level.”
“There’s a very excessive complementarity between the economies of Mexico and the US,” he stated.
In response to the Occasions, Muñoz additionally stated that “the pattern was anticipated to carry so long as there have been no main financial crises or interruptions to the present commerce settlement among the many United States, Mexico and Canada.”
The USMCA free commerce pact, which changed NAFTA in 2020, is scheduled for evaluate in 2026.
Mexico’s exports to US enhance 6%
The most recent U.S. Census Bureau information additionally confirmed that the US imported items from Mexico value $354.89 billion between January and August, a 6.1% enhance in comparison with the identical interval of 2024.
Mexico captured 24% of US import market that China misplaced between 2018-2024
Mexico — which sends round 80% of its exports to its northern neighbor — thus retained its place because the the world’s high exporter to the US, forward of Canada and China.
In response to the USTR, Mexico’s main exports to the US are “automobiles, equipment, electrical equipment, and medical units, along with over $48 billion [annually] in agricultural merchandise, together with contemporary greens, beer, distilled spirits, and contemporary fruit.”
Most Mexican items can enter the U.S. tariff free, regardless of Trump imposing duties on sure Mexican merchandise this yr, together with metal, aluminum and automobiles.
In distinction, many Chinese language items are topic to very excessive tariffs when getting into the U.S. Canadian merchandise that don’t adjust to the USMCA face a 35% obligation when getting into the U.S., 10 factors increased than that imposed on Mexican items not lined by the free commerce pact.
The worth of each Canadian and Chinese language exports to the U.S. declined in annual phrases within the first eight months of the yr.
Mexico and the US are one another’s largest commerce companion
Two-way commerce between Mexico and the US was value $581.3 billion between January and August, a 3.9% enhance in comparison with the identical interval of 2024.
Mexico had a commerce surplus with the U.S. of $128.4 billion within the interval.
Two-way commerce between the US and Canada fell 4.5% between January and August to $485.4 billion.
Commerce between the U.S. and China additionally declined, plummeting 21.5% to $292.6 billion. Canada is the US’ second largest commerce companion, whereas China ranks third.
U.S. Census Bureau information additionally reveals that the US’ commerce with Mexico accounts for round 15.5% of the world’s largest financial system’s whole commerce with all nations globally. That determine underscores the immense significance the North American neighbors are of to one another.
The economies of the 2 international locations have turn out to be extremely built-in within the three many years since NAFTA took impact. The mixing is now so nice that Mexico and the US are stated to be a part of a “co-production system,” during which they supply important inputs to one another that permit remaining items to be produced in numerous industries, together with the automotive, electronics and aerospace sectors.
With experiences from El Economista, El Common and The New York Occasions
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