Mexico Imports More Goods from the US Than Any Other Country
With translation help your business can grow South of the Border

Are your company’s marketing materials and web content available in Spanish? Are you targeting customers in Mexico? If not, here are some strong reasons why you should be looking South of the Border for increased growth.

Mexico’s market of over 100 million people presents an important market for Michigan products and services. Not only is it the strongest economy in Latin America, it is developing at the fastest rate. And, according to the CIA World Factbook, Mexico imports more goods from the US than any other country.

Mexico’s economy and industry bases are growing; therefore there is an increase for your products or services in Mexico. In the first quarter of 2008 exports to Mexico totaled more than $35.8 billion dollars making it the second largest importer of US goods behind Canada.

Michigan exported to 205 foreign destinations in 2007. The state’s largest foreign market, by far, in 2007 was NAFTA member Canada, which received exports of $25.6 billion, or 58 percent of the Michigan total. Canada was followed by fellow NAFTA member Mexico ($5.2 billion).

Since NAFTA began, Michigan industries have seen a 67 percent rise in exports to Mexico. Of the exports, there were eight double-digit increases, seven triple-digit increases, and an astounding rise of over 5,000 percent in the scrap metal industry. Of the 20 industries with export gains to Mexico, 16 were double or triple-digit increases.

One area of stellar growth for Michigan exports to Mexico was the agriculture industry, which has increased exports by 935 percent in the years since NAFTA went into effect. Michigan exports about one-third of its agricultural commodities each year, generating more than $1 billion and supporting nearly 13,000 jobs.

Of key importance to Michigan have been healthy gains in the transportation industry. This sector has seen steady growth in Mexico, with Michigan recording a 36.2-percent export gain since 1993.

Ranked high among Mexico’s overall imports are metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts. Other sectors that offer export potential are communications, construction, education, electronics, engineering, financial services, information technology, healthcare and mining.

When exploring export markets in Mexico or any other country, it is important to gain an understanding of the business culture and practices. If you do not speak the language, it is especially important to do business with a translation firm that offers flawless translation services and takes into account not only language variants or dialects but also specific marketing language which appeals to the particular market that you are trying to reach. When creating marketing materials it is makes good business sense to work with a translation firm that can provide turnkey services including desktop publishing. This way you can streamline all of your materials and make sure that they are culturally correct. Moreover, you save time by interfacing with only one company instead of several.

You’ll find in going global, even subtle differences can be very important. For instance, you might expect Mexico to be even less formal in business than the United States, but you would be mistaken, because in Mexico a certain formality in communication is expected. Not knowing this and many other little things could get you off to the wrong start. Many full service translation firms also offer cultural training so you can understand your future customers better and can build solid long-term business relationships with them.

Stats from: CIA World Factbook and US Census Data and Office of Trade and Industry Information, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce