Mexico replaced China as America’s top trade buddy — and it shows how the global economy is rapidly transforming

• Trade between the US and Mexico reached $263 billion during the first four months of this year.
• That pushed Mexico past China and Canada as its top trade partner since the start of the pandemic.
• China was America’s top partner for much of the 2010s and again at the start of the pandemic.

Meet America’s new, old best friend in the world economy.

According to a new post from Luis Torres, a senior business economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Mexico has once again cemented its place as America’s top trading partner, with $263 billion worth of goods passing between the two countries in the first four months of this year. Trade with Mexico accounted for 15.4% of goods exported and imported by the US, just ahead of America’s trade totals with Canada and China, which were 15.2% and 12% respectively.