WASHINGTON — For the first time in more than two decades, Mexico last year surpassed China as the leading source of goods imported by the United States. The shift reflects the growing tensions between Washington and Beijing as well as U.S. efforts to import from countries that are friendlier and closer to home.
Figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Commerce Department show that the value of goods imported by the United States from Mexico rose nearly five percent from 2022 to 2023, to more than $475 billion. At the same time, the value of Chinese imports tumbled 20 percent to $427 billion.
The last time that Mexican goods imported by the United States exceeded the value of China's imports was in 2002.
Economic relations between the United States and China have severely deteriorated in recent years as Beijing has fought aggressively on trade and made ominous military gestures in the Far East.