In 2023, Mexico dethroned China as the top exporter to the United States, the world’s largest economy.
Since then, Mexico has remained the top exporter to the U.S., occupying the No. 1 position in 2024, 2025 and the first five months of 2026.
Before Mexico ascended to the enviable position of No. 1 foreign supplier to the U.S., China held the top spot for over a decade. China first became the leading exporter to the U.S. in 2007. Canada snatched back the top spot in 2008 before ceding the position to the East Asian country once again in 2009.
For 14 consecutive years between 2009 and 2022, China was the top exporter to the United States. China was able to get to that position thanks to its vast, low-cost, export-oriented manufacturing sector, the establishment of permanent normal trade relations with the U.S. in 2000 and its membership in the World Trade Organization from 2001 onwards.
In the early 2000s, the country became known as “the world’s factory,” and in 2013, China became the planet’s largest trading nation.
But China’s share of the U.S. market for imports began to decline during the first Trump administration, mainly due to the U.S. government’s imposition of new tariffs on Chinese goods.
