China displaces Mexico and ends 2020 as the U.S.’s leading trading partner

xizhimen · Feb 6, 2021

China displaces Mexico and ends 2020 as the U.S.’s leading trading partner

By Yucatan Times
on February 6, 2021

MEXICO CITY (El Financiero) – The Chinese market became the main trading partner of the United States in 2020 by registering a trade exchange (exports plus imports) of 560.97 billion dollars, revealed the U.S. Census Bureau.

Mexico was displaced to second place, as trade with its northern neighbor amounted to 538.66 billion dollars.

Thus, China accounted for 14.9 percent of total U.S. trade during the previous year, while Mexico contributed 14.3 percent.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected international trade in various ways, especially during the second quarter of the year. However, China’s strong recovery led to a greater demand for and supply of goods.

China was the only major economy to register a growth in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020, registering an increase of 2.3 percent at an annual rate, while Mexico’s GDP fell 8.5 percent annually, according to Inegi’s timely estimate.

The Mexican trade market became, in 2019, for the first time in its history, the first trade ally of the U.S., largely due to the trade war waged by former President Donald Trump against the ‘Asian dragon.’

Another key partner for the U.S. trade market in Canada, since last year, carried out trade transactions worth 525,786 billion dollars so that the ‘country of the maple leaf’ contributed 14 percent of the U.S. world trade.

Together, China, Mexico, and Canada accounted for 43.2 percent of U.S. trade during 2020.

Pandemic affected trade between Mexico and the U.S.
In particular, Mexican exports to the United States amounted to 325.394 billion dollars during 2020, representing an annual decrease of 9.1 percent.

Thus, Mexican sales to the U.S. market reported their largest drop since 2009, the year in which the financial crisis caused Mexican exports to plummet 18.2 percent at an annual rate.

On the other hand, imports were more affected, as the Mexican domestic market’s weakness has not allowed more products to be purchased from abroad.

During 2020, Mexican purchases from the U.S. amounted to 212 billion 672 million dollars, which meant a contraction of 17 percent at an annual rate. This was the largest drop for this indicator since records have been kept.

Therefore, Mexico closed 2020 with a trade surplus of 112.723 billion dollars, which meant that the Mexican market sold much more than it bought from the U.S.