The past decade has ushered in an era of unprecedented economic growth and development within Mexico. Viewed as an emerging market, particularly in the commodities and manufacturing sectors, it now has the 15th largest economy in the world with a 2018 GDP of $2.6 trillion. Economists suggest that the recent growth within the manufacturing sector has been spurred on by changes in foreign markets and trade policy. In response, U.S. [...]

A large focal point of President Trump’s political agenda during his 2016 campaign was focused on trade with the United States and its impact on the U.S. economy. In turn, it began to shed light on U.S. trade relationships with Mexico and China. While renegotiations Mexico and Canada have resulted in a revised trilateral trade agreement (USMCA), trade with China is still under significant pressure.  Section 301 of the Trade [...]

This content has been updated for accuracy and relevancy on February 26th, 2020. What is the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA)? One of President Donald Trump’s focal points during his campaign, as well as his first years in office, was renegotiating the United States participation North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). At the end of September of 2018, more than a year [...]

Mexico's Labor Force: Participation Rate & Unemployment Improvements A recent study by Tradingeconomics.com shows Mexico’s labor force participation rate in 2018 is trending upwards, despite the half-percent decrease from September to August. This is slightly lower than the average 59.82% Mexico held from 2005 to 2018. source: tradingeconomics.com The unemployment rate in Mexico has improved as well, from 3.5% to 3.2% in October 2018. FocusEconomics reported that “third-quarter growth exceeded [...]

Content was last updated for relevancy and accuracy on December 20, 2023.  Will Tariffs Benefit or Hurt U.S. Manufacturers? The primary intent of applying a tariff on raw materials is to help domestic producers of such materials be more competitive with their global counterparts, thus creating (or protecting) domestic jobs. And while this strategy can certainly help domestic producers compete with countries who can produce the same product at a [...]

Determining Where to Manufacture - A Guide As a business, one of the most crucial decisions to make is where to locate manufacturing operations, as this can have a tremendous impact on the profitability of the enterprise. In recent years, there has been a seismic shift in how companies are doing business as more and more companies are choosing to offshore their manufacturing operations to other countries. However, in order [...]

Offshoring manufacturing is an option many companies consider in order to reduce operating expenses, while maintaining a high-quality end product. If you are considering manufacturing offshore, you may be wondering what offshoring is, where the best place is for offshore manufacturing, and the pros of offshoring. Below is a comprehensive guide to why you should consider offshore manufacturing and the tremendous offshoring benefits that you can garner if you choose [...]

Contrary to conventional wisdom, manufacturing in Mexico, and the existence of NAFTA , could be the answer to creating more jobs in the United States over the next twenty years. Since the mid-1980’s, manufacturing jobs have steadily declined in the United States due to a variety of factors, the most impactful of which continues to be automation.  However, another significant attribute was the dramatic difference in labor costs in other [...]

Cost is of the utmost importance to companies considering expanding or moving their manufacturing operations to another country. When analyzing the cost of manufacturing, many companies choose to relocate their manufacturing to Mexico for a number of reasons. These reasons vary from lower labor rates to the availability of qualified workers, but each reason is vital to consider in order to conduct a comprehensive analysis of what the costs of [...]