Nearshoring will favor the export of Mexican services
With nearshoring, the export of Mexican services can increase, considering the relocation of companies to the north.
In this regard, Mexico supplies 13.6% of US goods purchases, but only 5.5% of its service imports. However, the relocation of investments presents an opportunity to increase the export of Mexican services, as estimated by the Ministry of Economy and the Mexican Council for Foreign Trade, Investment, and Technology (COMCE).
The relocation of assets and investments (nearshoring) represents opportunities for Mexico not only in the export of products to the United States but also in the sale of commercial services to that destination.
This was highlighted by the Ministry of Economy and the Mexican Council for Foreign Trade, Investment, and Technology (COMCE).
In 2022, the United States imported products worth 3.38 trillion dollars, with 13.6% of that value coming from Mexico.
With a smaller market share, Mexico’s participation was 5.5% of the total imports of Mexican services, which totaled 697 billion dollars last year.
The export of services is a potential source of income for the nation, but schemes and promotions need to be redesigned.
The export of Mexican services
Mexico has maintained a growing trend in its exports of commercial services in recent years and, similar to what happens in the trade of products, it has opportunities to expand its supply to the American market.
In 2022, the United States established itself as the world leader in the trade of services, setting records in both exports and imports.
In terms of supply, its exports were 929 billion dollars, a 16% year-on-year increase, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO) data. Thus, it surpassed the United Kingdom (494 billion dollars, +8.6%) and China (424 billion dollars, +8.1%).
On the demand side, US imports of services totaled 697 billion dollars, representing a 24.7% annual increase.
Eugenio Salinas, Vice President of COMCE, commented that Mexico needs to increase the sophistication of its services, advance in the production of “mind billing,” and continue to grow in sectors such as tourism (both entertainment and medical), telecommunications, and software services, among others. The arrival of immigrants working for foreign service providers also represents an opportunity for export.
According to WTO statistics, Mexican service exports amounted to 36.027 billion dollars in 2022, a 32.7% increase compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, Mexican service imports grew by 20.8% to 46.803 billion dollars. With these results, Mexico remained in the 30th position among the world’s largest service importers and climbed from 36th to 35th place among exporters compared to 2021.”
Read further: Nearshoring impacts home sales in Mexico.
