The new Cold War is a business opportunity, and Mexico looks better placed than almost any other country to seize it.
US-China tensions are rewiring global trade, as the US seeks to reduce supply-chain reliance on geopolitical rivals and also source imports from closer to home. Mexico appeals on both counts—which is one reason it’s just overtaken China as the biggest supplier of goods to the giant customer next door.
On top of resurgent exports, Mexico boasts the world’s strongest currency this year and one of the best-performing stock markets. Foreign direct investment is already up more than 40% in 2023, even before Tesla Inc. starts building a proposed $5 billion factory. Not since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the 1990s has the country held the kind of allure for investors that it has right now.
This is the issue. Americans love cheap, low-quality crap. Yet, we complain about manufacturing being off-loaded overseas. If manufacturing moved back to the US and prices rose because of it, Americans would surely be complaining about “inflation” and blame whomever the President happens to be at the time. There’s no winning.
What does it take for people to realize that the people are the problem? Does God himself need to come down from the heavens to say “stop consuming so much guys” for us to get that we buy too much shit we dont need? Do we need inflation to go higher so we just cant buy anything anything?
We are reaching the limits of how much GHGs we can have on this planet before runaway effects and we stand idly because either ‘muh convenience’ or ‘can’t beat em might as well join em’. I think taking steps to reduce freight and move toward local economies begins with us and our spending decisions but its not limited to that.