Mexico unseats China as top importer to US

A worker stacks boxes of bananas for export in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas state, Mexico, May 31, 2019. Data released by the U.S. Commerce Department this week show that goods imported from Mexico accounted for 15% of U.S. imports in the first 11 months of 2023. [AP Photo]

After 17 years as the top source of imported goods in the United States, China will likely move into second place for 2023, ceding the first position to Mexico, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department this week.

The shift is the result of a yearslong trend that has seen a gradual decline in China's share of the U.S. import market, driven primarily by continued U.S. tariffs on a broad array of Chinese goods. However, other contributing factors include a broader reshuffling of global supply chains in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and a push by the U.S. to diversify sources of important imports away from China and toward geopolitical allies, a process sometimes known as "friendshoring."