Mexico overtook Canada to become the 12th largest exporter in the world last year, statistics show.

The value of exports from Mexico increased by 10.1% in 2018 to US $450.92 billion, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), while its Canadian counterpart, Statistics Canada, said that Canadian exports totaled US $449.85 billion, an increase of 6.9% compared to 2017.

It marks the first time that the value of Mexican exports has exceeded that of Canada.

With total exports of just under US $2.5 trillion, China was easily the world’s biggest exporter last year, according to World Trade Organization (WTO) data.

The United States and Germany were the second and third biggest exporters, with total foreign sales of US $1.66 trillion and $1.55 trillion respectively.

Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Hong Kong, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Belgium took out positions 4th to 11th.

The biggest contributors to Mexico’s export earnings were cars, petroleum, computers, auto parts, trucks, electrical conductors and televisions.

Mexico achieved strong export growth in 2018 even as tough negotiations to reach a new North American trade agreement continued to take place, creating uncertainty about the future of its relationship with its largest trading partner, the United States.

The leaders of Mexico, the United States and Canada finally signed a new trade pact on November 30 but it won’t take effect until it has been ratified by the legislatures of the three countries.

Both Mexico and Canada are pushing for the removal of the United States’ tariffs on steel and aluminum before moving to ratify the agreement.

Source: El Economista (sp)