Overcoming a blockade
Pluses and minuses in trade between the USA and Mexico. The overall signs are good for cross-border transport operations between Mexico and the USA, and thus more and more forwarders offer such options in their portfolios. The recent tightening of US border checks has caused some delays of late, however.
Forwarders operating across the Mexican-US border won’t forget 1 October 2023 in a hurry. Increased security and other checks by Texan authorities meant as many as 19,000 trucks were stuck in long queues. The important border stations for freight in the Texan cities of Laredo and El Paso, the latter with the famous ‘Bridge of the Americas’ to Ciudad Juárez in Mexico, and Otay Mesa (San Diego CA), were heavily affected. Reuters said the measures created a backlog of goods worth almost USD 1.9 billion.
The skies over the North American border trade hadn’t exactly been cloudless until then, but the figures had remained stable through to September 2023. The value of goods transported across the border by truck came to around USD 67 billion in that month, or 0.5% below the previous year’s figure.
The flow of goods by ship and rail between the two countries, in turn, increased in value. It remains to be seen what impact the tightened border checks will have on last quarter’s results.
The number of forwarders working for shippers in cross-border traffic is nevertheless continuing to increase. After Gebrüder Weiss established a new foothold in Laredo in October (see ITJ Daily of 19 October 2023), its fellow Austrian firm Cargo-partner has also entered the regional field, connecting the USA to both Mexico and Canada.
A nearshoring base and workbench
The forwarder, acquired by Nippon Express Holdings in May, has already been present in Mexico since September 2021, running centres in Puebla and Mexico City. On the other side of the border its US team operates offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Clarksville.
According to Ralf Schneider, Cargo-Partner’s president for the USA and its regional director for the Americas, the company’s road transport services “have been specially designed to meet the specific challenges of cross-border trade.” Mexico and its cross-border traffic are expected to continue to grow in importance as a nearshoring base and workbench for the US market.