Trade with Mexico supports more than 566,000 jobs and US $26.8 billion in foreign exports in California, according to a new study.
Carried out by the World Trade Center San Diego and the University of California’s Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, the study found that Mexico is California’s largest export market.
Since the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect in 1994, those exports have grown 311%.
The Cali Baja mega-region, a binational economic zone which takes in the Baja California municipalities of Tijuana, Tecate and Mexicali and the counties of San Diego and Imperial in California, has a manufacturing sector that directly employs 418,300 workers who make medical devices, semiconductors, aerospace parts and audio and video equipment.
Fifty-one per cent of trade in the region is in services, including computer system design, scientific research, software publishing and data publishing.
“It is clear that the cross border economic relationship plays a critical role in the Cali Baja mega-region in spurring economic growth, advancing technology and enhancing lives on many levels,” said Melissa Floca, associate director of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies.
World Trade Center executive director Nikia Clarke said that for every 10 jobs a U.S. multinational creates in Mexico it creates 25 in the U.S.
Source: CNS (en)
