Five Reasons Why the U.S.-Mexico Border Is Critical for the U.S. Economy
1. U.S.-Mexico trade surpasses $1 billion every day, with the vast majority of bilateral commerce crossing our land border.
- Mexico is the second largest destination of U.S. goods and services after Canada. In 2012, U.S. exports to Mexico totaled $216 billion—more than U.S. exports to Japan and China combined. [1]
- Mexico is the United States’ third largest trading partner. Since NAFTA was signed in 1994, bilateral trade levels have quintupled, reaching $494 billion in 2012. [2]
- Close to 80 percent of bilateral trade crosses the U.S.-Mexico land border every day. [3]
2. Millions of U.S. jobs depend on U.S. trade with Mexico—and on efficient cross-border commerce facilitation.
- Six million U.S. jobs are supported by bilateral trade with Mexico, which means that one in 24 workers depend on U.S.-Mexico trade. [4]
- More than 20 percent of U.S. jobs are linked to trade along the border. [5]
- NAFTA-related trade between the United States and Mexico has added 1.7 million U.S. jobs. [6]
- Trade with Mexico has created 692,000 jobs in California alone. U.S.-Mexico trade generated over 200,000 jobs in New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and more than 100,000 jobs in 22 other states. [7]
3. Key U.S. industries vital to our national economy depend on Mexico.
- In 2012, the top U.S. export categories to Mexico—machinery, mineral fuel and oil, vehicles, and plastic—added $128 billion to the U.S. economy. [8]
- The United States and Mexico traded $70 billion in machinery, tools, and equipment in 2009, which were then used to produce other goods to be consumed locally or sold to foreign markets. [9]
- The production-sharing model of U.S.-Mexico trade means that cars built in North America cross U.S. borders—both with Canada and Mexico—at least eight times during production. [10]
- Even imports from Mexico support U.S. industries, with imported goods comprised of 40 percent U.S. content on average. [11]
4. Mexico is on the rise, with a growing middle class looking to legally cross our southern border to spend tourism dollars in the United States.
- Over 13 million Mexicans traveled to the United States in 2010, spending $8.7 billion—second only to Canadians. [12]
- Mexico may become the world’s fifth largest economy by 2050, with a higher GDP per capita than all but three European countries. [13] The border is an important gateway for welcoming Mexican tourists ready to spend their disposable income.
- From 2007 to 2008, Mexican tourists who entered the United States through land ports of entry spent $2.69 billion [14] in Arizona alone, creating 23,400 direct jobs and 7,000 indirect jobs for Arizonans. [15]
5. Border communities throughout the U.S. southwest depend on Mexico to keep their economies growing.
- In 2012, Mexico was the main export destination for three out of four border states: Arizona, California, and Texas. [16]
- Twenty-three states count Mexico as their number one or number two export market. In 2012, 36 states counted Mexico as a top-five market. [17]
- The San Diego-Tijuana border area, or the Cali Baja Bi-National Mega-Region, is a leading manufacturing and high-technology hub that spans both sides of the border, representing $202 billion in GDP in 2011 and a labor force made up of 3.1 million people. [18]
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Sonya Buchanan/8:15pm
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