The United States and Mexico celebrated more than 200 years of diplomatic relations. They shared geography, history, culture, and people-to-people ties. The US and Mexico share a 2,000-mile border. Thousand of people cross the border legally each day, an estimated 1.6 million US citizens live in Mexico. Mexico is the top foreign destination for US travelers.
United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement
The United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement (USMCA) entered into force on July 1, 2020. The USMCA, which substituted the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), benefits North American workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses. this agreement creates high-paying jobs in North America and helps to grow the American economy.
Mexico became the top trading partner in early 2023, with bilateral trade totaling $263 billion in the first four months of the year accounting for more than 15 percent of total US trade.
Mexico, a strong promoter of trade liberalization, maintains thirteen trade agreements with 50 countries plus 32 investment promotion agreements and nine limited economy agreements including pacts with Japan the European Union, and many Latin American partners
Overall, USMCA represents a significant milestone in North American trade relations, providing a framework for continued economic cooperation and addressing some of the shortcomings of its predecessor, NAFTA. While it has been praised for modernizing certain aspects of trade, it has also faced criticism from some quarters for not going far enough in addressing certain issues such as labor rights and environmental protection. Nonetheless, the USMCA remains a crucial instrument for fostering trade and economic integration among the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
MIGRATION
The United States works with Mexico to address the root causes of irregular migration and to implement human migration management policies. The US border patrol had nearly 250000 encounters with migrants crossing into us from Mexico in December 2023. according to government statistics. that was the highest monthly total on record.
it is not clear whether the recent high numbers of encounters at the borders will persist in 2024. in January, encounters fell to around 124000, according to the latest available statistics.
in December 2023, most encounters at the US-Mexico border (54%) involved migrants traveling as single adults while 41% involved people traveling in families and 5% involved unaccompanied minors.
