[Freight Weekly] US-Mexico truck trade reaches historic highs

💯While immigration and the border remain hot topics in the U.S. election which is fast approaching, data shows U.S.-Mexico cross-border truck trade is at all-time highs. Many factors are at play — the USMCA trade deal, nearshoring, and China:

• The logistics data company Motive told CNBC that cross-border trade between the United States and Mexico has climbed by 52 percent — YTD through Sept.

• In addition, Motive reports that cross-border freight truck visits, year-over-year through September, are up by 30 percent. Historic highs, notes the news outlet.

• “We expect cross-border trade to rise again in early 2025, driven by nearshoring and increased trade at the Laredo border crossing,” Hamish Woodrow explained in an interview via CNBC.com. Woodrow is Motive’s head of strategic analytics.

• Woodrow pointed to the coming holiday season as an indication of the strong data. The National Retail Federation predicts winter holiday spending to be near $1 trillion this year. NRF said this expectation is owed to strong labor markets and wage growth across the U.S. economy — an election flashpoint.

• Nearshoring is also a main reason for strong cross-border trade with Mexico. Last week, KPMG surveyed 250 executives whose companies bring in $1 billion or more in annual revenue. The survey found that executives see Mexico as poised to be the next best locale to implement nearshoring manufacturing plans.

• USMCA trade deal conditions also encourage cross-border trade numbers. Do note that former President Donald Trump wants to renegotiate the USMCA trade deal that his first administration negotiated if he is given his second term in DC.

• The U.S. Bureau of Trade Statistics additionally reports that trucks moved $90.7 billion of freight, up 3.3 percent compared to Aug 2023, via Mexico and Canada.

Bottom line: Trade south of the U.S. border remains strong, despite doomsaying and concerns of immigration policy taking the main stage in the 2024 presidential election. Much of this strength in cross-border truck trade with Mexico is powered by trends to implement nearshoring and shift supply chains from trans-Pacific conditions to land.

CONTEXT: American views of China hit record low, poll finds, as animosity grows -Washington Post

MORE: North American Transborder Freight declined 0.9% in August 2024 from August 2023 - Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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📰OTHER NEWS IN FREIGHT📰

🦬Port of Los Angeles rail delays stacked up to new heights due to the aftermath of the short-lived ILA east coast strike: CNBC.com reports that other reasons for the rail delays include impacts from the ongoing Red Sea Crisis and diversions tied to strikes and weather conditions that drastically intervened on trade along the US East and Gulf coasts.

🔫CN, CPKC, and Teamsters Canada Rail Conference forced into arbitration: In the latest development of the ongoing labor dispute between rail workers and Class I rail systems in Canada, the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) announced that it has imposed binding arbitration between CN, CPKC and the Teamsters rail union.

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