US-Mexico Border Corridor: A Very Busy Two-Way Street

ERIK LEE
editor@siteselection.com

President Obama's visit to Mexico City in May had an interesting and surprisingly novel focus on the two nations' very positive economic relations, now at an amazing $536 billion dollars in two-way goods and services trade for 2012.

This represents a quintupling of bilateral trade since 1993, the year the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed by President George H.W. Bush. President Obama's extensive references to this enormous economic relationship essentially confirmed what we have known for years: The U.S.-Mexico relationship is essentially a commercial relationship, rather than a security-based relationship. And that is - and will continue to be - good news for all of us.

Depending on whether or not you have worked in Mexico previously, you may be somewhat confused, because after Mexico's security challenges over the last several years, many are surprised that the country has not fallen into the Pacific Ocean. And don't get us wrong: Mexico's security situation is truly challenging (although we would emphasize that this is not at all reflected in U.S. border communities' small and continually falling crime levels). But at a policy level, at least, we seem to finally realize and agree (and really, what took us so long?) that the two nations comprise an absolutely critical component of each other's economies. We would be wise to double down on our unique brand of free trade with Mexico and the opportunities it presents to us.

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