Mexican textile - moving forward instead of standing still

The mutual dependency of countries with regard to trade simply reveals that the economies are integrated within the international division of work at different levels. There are many ways to compute the significance of global trade. One is to check the openness degree of a country, which refers to high participation within the international trade involving various sectors. However, not all economies are open to trade with other countries.

Some economies extensively rely on neighboring countries for import and export of a particular sector. This dependency on each other can be limited, but it can never be wished away no matter how developed a country is. Thus, countries like Mexico that exclusively depend on neighboring countries for textile import and export, are now concentrating on developing trade ties pertaining to textile with other countries as well. Mexico has so far been involved in exporting and importing of its textile and apparel mainly to the United States of America, but this scene is changing now.

Mexico has realized that trade openness will help expand textile business opportunities for local companies by opening up new markets, removing unnecessary impediments and making it simpler for the country to export. In general, Mexico is the United States' third largest trading partner and in terms of textile and apparel products Mexico is the first Latin American supplier of apparel products to the U.S.A. and the fifth worldwide exporter after China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Among the apparels that Mexico exports to the United States, men's and boys' cotton trousers, shorts, and breeches form nearly 15.8 percent of total U.S.A. imports of these products in terms of volume.

With changes in the global trade system, Mexico is trying to improve its ties with countries like China. Mexico is also making sincere attempts to expand business ties with China to attract more capital in the textile sector. Today, even though the U.S.A. is one of the most significant textile markets for Mexico, the country has signed free-trade pacts with 43 countries, thus becoming a part of one of the largest such networks around the globe. Mexico is also a part of the Central America Free Trade Agreement. Mexico and Peru have also entered a deal for the import and export of clothing and other textiles.

The export of textiles to Canada by Mexico has also increased significantly, and this has raised Mexico's market share in Canada to almost five percent. Even though in 2013 the export of textiles to Canada has slowed down, it still stands strong. The annual clothing and textile sales by Mexican retailers are estimated at between US $10 and 12 billion dollars. With the textile and apparel industry becoming one of the strongest sectors of the Mexican economy, the black market for clothing has also increased and today it stands at US $ 13 billion annually, with 55 percent supplied by Mexican producers and 45 percent by foreign manufacturers.

Presently, the Mexican textile industry is focusing on the production of synthetic fibers mixed with rayon, and other artificial fibers. Also, fabrics with textured polyester dyes and taffeta fabrics with discontinuous dyes made of polyester fibers are dominating the Mexican textile market. Upholstery fabrics, industrial fabrics for the automotive industry, other fine wool fabrics, silk fabric and apparels, and textile machinery and equipment are exported by Mexico to other countries.