(UnitedVoice.com) – The world health crisis soured the US on Chinese imports. Reports indicated the country stockpiled medical goods while hiding the severity of the virus from the rest of the world. The Chinese government has also been accused of stealing trade secrets, threatened the US with military action, been accused of committing genocide, and the list goes on.
Former President Donald Trump vowed America would become more independent as a result of the catastrophe, and President Joe Biden has kept that policy. A new report shows just how far America has moved away from China.
New Importing King
According to The Associated Press, the US Commerce Department recently revealed the value of goods traded to America from Mexico increased 5% from 2022 to 2023, totaling more than $475 billion. At the same time, the value of goods from China dramatically decreased 20% to just $427 billion.
The news means that for the first time in more than 20 years, Mexico has overtaken China as the number one importer to the US. The last time it happened was in 2002.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) claimed the milestone is going to make it harder for the US to close its border with his country, referring to a US Senate bill that the GOP recently killed that would have allowed that. The president brushed off suggestions that the border would close, saying, “The businesses wouldn’t take it, maybe one day, but not a week.”
Problems With China
Derek Scissors, the American Enterprise Institute’s China specialist, stated the most significant drop in trade was in the pharmaceuticals and electronics sectors. He said that it was very unlikely the US would “rebound in those areas in 2024 and 2025.”
That’s especially notable because both former President Donald Trump and Joe Biden worked to move the US away from its dependence on China for pharmaceutical supplies, especially after what happened during the pandemic. There were shortages of medications and components of medications when China closed its plants down. The crisis led lawmakers to take the issue of foreign dependence more seriously.
On top of the problems with China, there is just a logistical issue that makes sense. China is oceans and seas away, while Mexico is the country’s next-door neighbor, making it much cheaper to ship from there.
Scissors also said he thinks corporate America has decided China is not a reliable partner. The authoritarian nation is no longer trustworthy and proves it at every turn.
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