As of July 2023, Mexico is the biggest trading partner of the United States, with around $462 billion worth of goods exchanged between the two countries in the year to-date. This is ahead of Canada's $450 billion and China's $322 billion, marking the only time except 2019 when Mexico occupied the spot of top U.S. trade partner.
The United States as the biggest economy in the world has traditionally been at the center of global trade flows. China had taken a front seat as the partner the U.S. traded with most since 2015, but this changed in 2019. The U.S.-China trade war which saw both countries leverage tariffs against one another during the Trump presidency finally took its toll and saw China drop into rank three of the biggest U.S. trading partners. Mexico occupied rank 1 that year, ahead of Canada by only a sliver.
This changed abruptly again with the enormous global upheaval the Covid-19 pandemic brought to global trade in 2020. China, which managed to keep its economy open at least for the first pandemic year, was back as the top trading partner in 2020 as imports from Canada and Mexico dropped significantly. As the coronavirus fully arrived in China in 2021 and 2022, Canada - this time slightly ahead of Mexico - became the biggest trade partner, reestablishing a similar scenario to the pre-pandemic status quo.
Most of the United States' total trade stems from imports as the country runs a trade deficit with most partners and is therefore a net importer. With Canada, trade flows are more balanced.
