14,800 container trucks cross the U.S.-Mexico border each day. They carry much of the $1.6 billion in daily trade that makes Mexico the third largest economic partner and the second largest export market of the U.S., and that makes the U.S. Mexico’s top economic partner.  Mexico is the largest international buyer for some 23 U.S. states, and the U.S. buys about 80% of Mexico’s exports.

These facts indicate why Vice President Biden, three cabinet secretaries and other U.S. officials will be in Mexico City February 25 meeting Mexican counterparts, led by Secretary of Finance Videgaray, for the U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue.  Biden and others will check progress on the dozens of areas where the two governments have been working since 2013 to make it less costly and more efficient to trade between us and to build things together as we compete with other global producers.

Over the past 20 years, Mexico and the United States have developed efficient production chains that crisscross the border with materials and know-how flowing back and forth as products are built.  A distinctive feature of this network is that when the U.S. buys a finished manufactured product from Mexico a large part of the content (estimated at up to 40%) is made up of materials from the U.S. – more so than with any other U.S. trading partner in the world.  Thus, simple trade figures do not tell the real value proposition of what is being made by the two countries in a combined effort.

That is part of the reason why the Vice President, Secretary Videgaray and others are so interested in improving the efficiencies in the commerce between the two countries.  But that is not the full picture: up to a million people cross the border legally as part of their daily business; over 37 million tourists from the two countries visit each year; and U.S. companies have invested more than $100 billion dollars in Mexico while Mexican companies have invested some $18 billion in the U.S.  This massive relationship touches the daily lives of millions on both sides of the border.

Source: The United States and Mexico: Building and Designing Things Together – Forbes