Economic situation High degree of dependency on the United States

Mexico’s economy is highly dependent on foreign trade, especially on the export of industrial goods such as vehicles and vehicle parts, machinery and electrical appliances. About 80 per cent of Mexican exports are destined for the United States.

In 2018, the Mexican economy grew by two per cent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects significantly lower growth in 2019 and 2020.

The Mexican government wants to diversify the economy and expand its trading partnerships. Over the past few years, it has built a global network of agreements on free trade and more general issues, including with the EU and Japan. In November 2018, Mexico signed a new trade agreement with the US and Canada (the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, USMCA). The new agreement is meant to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) concluded in 1994, which was cancelled by US President Donald Trump.

Nearly 12 million people who are Mexicans by birth live in the United States. About half of them are unauthorised immigrants. In 2018, Mexican migrants transferred more than 35 billion US dollars to their home country.

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