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SPECIAL INSIGHT: TRADE AGREEMENTS
¡Vámonos! Exports Could Reach a Stunning 1.3 Billion Customers
Having completed free trade agreements with 46 countries, Mexico boasts more trading partners than any other nation in the world. While the pace of economic growth is slowing, opportunities to export abroad still beckon.
Mexico feels prepared for American isolationism. This year, the government will face efforts to revive the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) without the United States, as well as begin NAFTA renegotiations at the behest of Donald Trump. The Peña Nieto administration aims to diversify markets for the country’s exports and to boost non-U.S. investments.
October 7, 1992, San Antonio, Texas. The North American Free Trade Agreement was initialed in San Antonio with U.S. President Bush (C), Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (L), and Canadi- an Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (R), standing. The chief trade representatives of each country are seated in front. Credit: Bettmann/Contributor
Parts for cars and engines, avoca- dos and pears, air conditioning components, and even tortillas and bread: The Mexican econ-
omy is chugging along producing and exporting all of these commodities—and many more—to diverse and widespread markets across the globe. Manufacturing GDP has continued to rise slowly in 2017, although other sectors like services, min-
ing, and agriculture are down on the year. Overall, the economy is still growing, al- beit at a modest pace.
With a forward and optimistic approach to international trade, Mexico leads the world in free trade agreements (FTAs). Thus far, the North American nation has entered into 12 FTAs with 46 different countries around the globe; the latter fig- ure outnumbers any other country in the
world. Trade partners include the United States and Canada, the European Union, the European Free Trade Area, Japan, the Pacific Alliance, Israel, and 10 other countries in Latin America.
Emilio Cadena, the President & CEO of business and government consultant Grupo PRODENSA, points to the trans- formative effect trade can have on a na- tion. Mexican citizens have a better qual-
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