The Asian country’s market share of U.S. imports was 15.3%, against a 14.2% share for Mexico, the narrowest gap since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In April, Mexico narrowed the gap with China in their shares of total product imports into the United States, at 14.2 and 15.3%, respectively, the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday.

That gap, of 1.1 percentage points, was the smallest since the distorting effects produced by the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 on trade between these countries.

With respect to 2022, China’s lead over Mexico had previously narrowed as follows: January (6.3 percentage points), February (4.8 points) and March (2.4 points).

In absolute terms, Mexican exports to the United States totaled 38.874 billion dollars in April, a year-on-year increase of 20.9 percent. In turn, Chinese sales to the U.S. market totaled 41.772 billion dollars, up 11.7% year on year.

Both nations are the leading suppliers of products to the United States and face different challenges: China has forced factories to close and restricted port operations under its zero-Covid policy, while Mexico has been hit above all in its automotive sector by the shortage of semiconductor chips.

Canada ranked third as a supplier to the U.S. market, with sales of 38.075 billion dollars in April, growth of 38.4%, far more dynamic than that of Mexico and China.

In fact, Canada took first place among the United States’ main trading partners in April, with a 15.5% coverage (considering imports and exports of goods), followed by Mexico (14.8%) and China (11.9 percent).

In particular, Canada has benefited from high international commodity prices, as commodities account for a substantial share of its exports to the world and, in particular, to the United States.

On a cumulative basis, in the first four months of this year, Canada stood as the United States’ top trading partner (with a 15% slice of total trade), Mexico in second place (14.6%) and China in third (13.3 percent).

Considering only the share of product imports into the United States, China outpaced Mexico by a gap of between 2.8 and 6.3 percentage points in the 12 months of 2021 and between 5.3 and 7.1 points from January to December 2020.

In February and March 2020, at the height of the pandemic, China’s share of U.S. external purchases plummeted, with a market share of 12.8 and 10.2%, respectively.

Mexico’s collapse in that same indicator followed, with a share of 9.6 and 9.1% of total U.S. imports in April and May, respectively.

April and May were also the worst months for Canada as a result of the pandemic, when its share of imports into its southern neighbor was only 9.1 and 9.7%, in that same order.

Real private final domestic purchases (the sum of personal consumption, business fixed investment and residential investment) in the United States accelerated to an annual growth rate of 3.7% during the first quarter of 2022, following a 2.6% advance in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Source: El Economista