Odd Lots

How Freight Companies Are Capitalizing on the Boom in US-Mexico Trade

How much can US-Mexico trade grow?

The Gateway to the Americas International Bridge in Laredo, Texas

Photographer: Callaghan O'Hare/Bloomberg
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US imports from Mexico are surging. Trump's tariffs on China as well as the renegotiated USMCA have encouraged supply chains to move to North America. Then COVID hit and that re-energized interest in "nearshoring" or "friendshoring" as an alternative to China. So how much further can US-Mexico trade go? What kinds of goods are being imported from Mexico? And how is the trade boom interacting with Mexico's shaky security situation? On this episode we speak with Matt Silver, the CEO and co-founder of Cargado, which is building technology to facilitate cross-border freight. Silver, a former freight broker with a long history of doing business in Mexico, talks to us about what he's seeing on the ground, who's investing, plus the extraordinarily complicated process of getting goods across the border. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.