The U.S. imported more goods from Mexico than from China last year, marking the first time in two decades and signaling a shift in global trade patterns amid strained relations between the U.S. and China.
Imports from China fell 20 percent last year, to $427.2 billion, as auto parts, shoes and raw materials were imported from Mexico, Europe, South Korea, India, Canada and Vietnam. Mexican exports to the U.S. held steady at $475.6 billion, which was about the same as in 2022.
The drop-off in Chinese imports is partly due to the pandemic. Purchases of Chinese goods had increased in 2021 and 2022, with U.S. consumers ordering laptops, toys, Covid tests, exercise equipment and clothing. “The world couldn’t get access to enough Chinese goods in ’21, and it gorged on Chinese goods in ’22,” said Brad Setser, an economist and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Everything has been normalizing since then.”
But trade data show that tariffs and rising tensions between the two countries are also playing a role, experts say. “We are decoupling, and that’s weighing heavily on trade flows,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics.
