LegiStorm

Summary:

Mexico has had a growing commitment to trade integration and liberalization through the formation of free trade agreements (FTAs) since the 1990s, and its trade policy is among the most open in the world. Mexico’s pursuit of FTAs with other countries not only provides economic benefits, but could also potentially reduce its economic dependence on the United States. The United States is, by far, Mexico’s most significant trading partner. Approximately 80% of Mexico’s exports go to the United States, and about 47% of Mexico’s imports are supplied by the United States. In an effort to increase trade with other countries, Mexico has a total of 11 free trade agreements involving 46 countries. These include agreements with most countries in the Western Hemisphere, including the United States and Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. In addition, Mexico has negotiated FTAs outside of the Western Hemisphere and entered into agreements with Israel, Japan, and the European Union. Economic motivations are generally the major driving force for the formation of free trade agreements among countries, but there are other reasons countries enter into FTAs, including political and security factors. One of Mexico’s primary motivations for its unilateral trade liberalization efforts of the late 1980s and early 1990s was to improve economic conditions in the country, which policymakers hoped would lead to greater investor confidence, attract more foreign investment, and create jobs. Mexico could also have other reasons for entering into FTAs, such as expanding market access and decreasing its reliance on the United States as an export market. The slow progress in multilateral trade negotiations may also contribute to the increasing interest throughout the world in bilateral and regional free trade agreements under the World Trade Organization (WTO). Some countries may see smaller trade arrangements as “building blocks” for multilateral agreements. Since Mexico began liberalizing trade in the early 1990s, its trade with the world has risen rapidly, with exports increasing more rapidly than imports. Mexico’s exports to all countries increased 515% between 1994 and 2016, from $60.8 billion to $373.9 billion. Although the 2009 economic downturn resulted in a decline in exports, the value of Mexican exports recovered in the years that followed. Total imports also increased rapidly, from $79.3 billion in 1994 to $387.1 billion in 2016, an increase of 388%. The trade balance went from a deficit of $18.5 billion in 1994 to surpluses of $7.1 billion and $6.5 billion in 1995 and 1996. Since 1998, Mexico’s trade balance has remained a deficit, equaling $13.2 billion in 2016. Mexico’s top five exports in 2016 were passenger motor vehicles, motor vehicle parts, motor vehicles for the transport of goods, automatic data processing machines, and electrical apparatus for telephones. Mexico’s top five imports were motor vehicle parts, refined petroleum oil products, electronic integrated circuits, electric apparatus for telephones, and automatic data processing machines. In the 115 th Congress, issues of concern related to the trade and economic relationship with Mexico may involve a possible renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its effects, Mexico’s external trade policy with other countries, Mexico’s intentions of moving forward with multilateral or bilateral free trade agreements with Asia Pacific countries, economic conditions in Mexico and the labor market, and the status of Mexican migration to the United States. This report provides an overview of Mexico’s free trade agreements, its motivations for trade liberalization and entering into free trade agreements, and trade trends with the United States and other countries in the world.