The geopolitical tensions of recent years are changing the scenario of business alliances. The China, which has now completed overtaking the Use as an economic power, it is increasingly looking towards Africa and South America, and the United States itself, which for 20 years had Beijing as its main trading partner despite all the political and cultural divisions, is today looking much closer to its borders geographical. In the first half of this year, in fact, the Mexico has once again become the first country from which the States import products: this hasn't happened since 2003, twenty years in fact.
USA, Mexico and Canada increasingly closer
In detail, in the first half of 2023 Americans imported products from China for 203 billion dollars, 25% less than the previous year, while purchases from neighboring Mexico increased by 5,4% to 236 billion. Now the Mexico worth 15,5% of all US imports, ahead of the Canada which also surpassed China with 13,8%, and Beijing in third place with 13,3%. In total, between January and June of this year, the USA and Mexico exchanged goods for 400 billion dollars, a figure which grew by only 3,1%, due to the fact that exports to the Latin American country remained substantially stable.
The trend of nearshoring
Nearshoring, i.e. preferring neighboring countries as trading partners, has seen a surge under the presidency of Joe Biden but it had been in the air for some time. To give some examples, HP has announced that it will leave China to move its offices to Thailand or Mexico, and is considering doing the same thing Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC),, while other stars and stripes giants such as Ford and General Motors have been focusing on Mexico for several years. The trend is growing: beyond the already significant half-yearly data, it should be noted that in the month of June the US imports from China they plummeted to 33,5 billion, the lowest figure since the start of the pandemic (therefore including data during the pandemic).
The migrant issue remains between the USA and Mexico
despite the tensions due to Washington's hard fist against the migrants who are trying to enter US territory from Central America, relations between the US and Mexico are therefore at their peak ever, at least from the point of view industrial: the US imports cars and auto parts, crude oil, electronics, fruits and vegetables, meat and drinks such as beer and tequila; and they send back mostly gasoline and agricultural products. The partnership has grown and intensified under the presidency of Lopez Obrador, the controversial Mexican president since 2018, who despite a progressive-populist orientation, immediately proved to be very pro-US, first with Trump and then with Biden.
Obrador passes the reins to Claudia Sheinbaum
Lopez Obrador, also known as AMLO, will leave politics next year, when the presidential elections will be held and two women will be running to take his place for the first time: his dauphin claudia sheinbaum and the conservative outsider Xóchitl Galvez, who according to the polls has quite a few chances of winning, which all things considered could go even better in the States, given the propensity of the current indigenous senator to be very market-friendly. She is a millionaire entrepreneur, she declares herself a feminist, in favor of abortion and the recognition of LGBT rights, but in the economic field she is a hawk: she proposes an increasingly streamlined state to make way for private initiative. With her, Mexico could become more and more part of North America and less and less of Latin America.
