Kickstart: Imports from Mexico on the rise

Mexico has outpaced China when it comes to exports for the U.S.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysts released its report on international trade for 2023 on Feb. 7, showing that Mexico overtook China as the biggest exporter to the U.S. during the year.

Mexico shipped $475.6 billion in goods to the U.S. during the year compared with $427.2 billion in goods from China. It's the first time in 20 years that Mexico topped China.

That doesn't necessarily mean that there's now proof that U.S. buyers are forsaking China. Some of the export strength from Mexico can be attributed to subsidiaries of Chinese companies investing in production in locations deemed friendlier to the U.S. — nearshoring or "friendshoring," as the Voice of America termed it in a report in January.

But Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, told the New York Times that there is a "decoupling" from China-based imports. There are also lingering worries about supply chain snags since the start of COVID-19.

The implications of the 2023 trade statistics are far beyond my limited exposure to economics — ask Plastics News Economics Editor Bill Wood during the Numbers That Matter Live webinar Feb. 27 for true insight — but the numbers out this week may prove to be an interesting turning point.

It's one thing to host a local or state official at your company to give them an idea of what you do. Training specialists at RJG Inc. went beyond a photo op when it had a local state representative step in and use its troubleshooting software and equipment during a visit to its Traverse City, Mich., facility.

"Even though she had no prior experience using an injection molding machine, [state Rep. Betsy Coffia] was able to diagnose that the process running on our press did not match the qualified process and then followed … step-by-step instructions to fix the problem on her own," RJG said in a blog post on Coffia's visit.

The idea behind the visit was to give the lawmaker with some perspective on manufacturers' needs, a common public outreach by companies.

In this case, Coffia's Jan. 26 visit included "significant emphasis" on the skills gap manufacturers face when hiring new workers. It also gave RJG a chance to show off its artificial intelligence software, Max, geared at molders at the same time.

The packaging industry in Europe will complete several years worth of design, molding, production and mold design innovations in July when a mandate requiring tethered caps on single-use plastic bottles takes effect.

The January/February issue of Sustainable Plastics — available to download now — takes a look at the steps taken to meet the European Union directive. Successful implementation there may lead other regions to adopt similar rules, Valentina Gollini of auxiliary equipment maker Sacmi told SP.

"We see an expansion beyond the European borders, where it is expected to be voluntarily adopted in different markets and areas," Gollini said.

And speaking of Sustainable Plastics, you can see the first Sustainable Plastics Live webinar of 2024 featuring PN's Don Loepp and Karen Laird of SP here.