How has NAFTA affected the volume of Mexico's trade with the U.S.?

Question

How has NAFTA affected the volume of Mexico's trade with the U.S.?

Answer 1

It has increased it.

For the latest info on just about any country, the CIA Factbook is the place to start:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications...

The page for Mexico notes that the U.S. is Mexico's most important trading partner: about 85% of Mexico's exports (about $230 billion) go to the U.S. and about 51% of Mexico's imports (about $144 billion) come from the U.S.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications...

From the U.S. perspective, Mexico is number 3 in imports (after Canada - another NAFTA member - and China) and number 2 as a destination for exports (again, after Canada)

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications...

So US-Mexico trade is important to both.

As for the effect of NAFTA on that trade, check out what the Congressional Budget Office has to say:

http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=4247&ty...

In summary: it is hard to judge exactly - trade was growing before NAFTA, it continued growing until the recession of 2000, and they've been growing again since. The result is that as a percentage of total trade, Mexico is more important to the U.S. than it was before NAFTA and the U.S. is more important to Mexico as well. (Exports from the U.S. to Mexico have gone up 150%) Overall, the general impression that the effect on trade has been positive, but modest.

http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organizat...

On the other hand, just looking at the trade numbers is a very limited view. There are other economic factors, there are social and environmental factors, etc. Some consider a great success, while other consider it a disaster.

Other articles you might want to look at include:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Ameri...

http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/...

http://www.earlham.edu/~pols/17Fall97/na...

Answer 2

Mexico Exports, the United States Imports. There is no 2-way trade, its all 1-way.