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Mexican Ports have shown an 30 percent annual increase in U.S. bound imports. Certain sectors like automobile imports from Japan, trade volume has grown exponentially. At the port of Lazaro Cardenas on Mexico's pacific coast, vehicle imports rose 250 percent between 2004 and 2006. Export trade volume at Mexican ports is also growing. Rising cargo volume reflects China's tremendous appetite for energy resources and raw materials, much of it coming from Latin America.
North American transportation groups are recognizing Mexico's growing importance in the continental supply chain. Mexico's pacific coast ports, for example, are key points along North America's super corridor trade rout,which traverses 2500 miles through Canada, the central U.S.and deep into Mexico. The ports of Lazaro Cardenas and Manzanillo can and will provide a strategic link to key Asian markets, possibly in the future enabling importers to bypass LA/Long Beach chokepoints, and thus speed trade flow throughout Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. Those ports, however, are not at threat to U.S. ports now or anytime in the near future.
In addition to increase trade with China, several factors are driving increased volume at Mexico's ports. Among them are recent changes to Mexican import laws that allow sealed containers to enter the country without undergoing customs inspection until they reach their ultimate destination, which is often in the United States.
In a typical scenario, cargo is inspected at its overseas shipping point, sealed in containers, and transported to Mexico. The cargo is then moved to a U.S. inland port such as Kansas City SmartPort, where it is inspected, sorted, and distributed.
Because of their capacity to quickly clear cargo, inland ports are becoming a vital link in the North American supply chain. In 2005,Kansas City officials signed cooperative agreements with their counterparts at the ports of Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas, and the Mexican state of Michoacan, aimed at facilitating the flow of goods to and from Mexico through SmartPort.
The agreement works as follows:freighters carrying goods from Asia will unload at Lazaro Cardenas, bypassing any congestion at West Coast ports. The shipments which are pre-screened at the point of origin pass through multiple X ray screenings upon their arrival in Mexico so any containers with suspicious contents or incongruous documentation can be removed for closer inspection.
Cargo containers are then transported via rail to Monterrey, Mexico, where they are transferred to trailer trucks for their northbound journey. To speed the border crossing at Laredo, Texas, and other checkpoints, eligible trucks receive expedited entry via the Free and Secure Trade program, which uses windshield sticker tags and driver identification cards to expedite pre-approved shipments across the border.
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