US trade with Mexico surges to $77B in March

Auto parts, computers, cars, commercial trucks were top imports

Port Laredo, Texas, was the No. 3-ranked U.S. trade gateway in March, totaling $31.3 billion in commerce. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Mexico was the top U.S. trade partner in March at $77.3 billion, a 13% year-over-year increase and its highest monthly total in six years.

For the first three months of 2025, trade between the U.S. and Mexico totaled $215 billion, an 8% year-over-year increase.

Canada ranked No. 2 for trade with the U.S. at $67.5 billion in March, while China was third at $51 billion.

Chicago O’Hare International Airport was the No. 1 international U.S. trade gateway in the month, totaling $48.5 billion, according to Census Bureau data analyzed by WorldCity.  

John F. Kennedy International Airport was the second-ranked U.S. gateway for international trade at $41.5 billion during March.

Port Laredo, Texas, was the No. 3-ranked U.S. trade gateway in March, totaling $31.3 billion in two-way commerce, a 13% year-over-year increase.

Port Laredo’s top imports from Mexico into the U.S. included auto parts ($2.4 billion), computers ($2 billion), passenger vehicles ($1.63 billion) and heavy-duty trucks ($963 million). 

Auto parts ($1.34 billion), gasoline ($400 million), electric storage batteries ($300 million) and diesel engines ($257 million) were the port’s top three exports to Mexico.

During March, 264,826 commercial trucks crossed through the Laredo port of entry, a 3.5% year-over-year increase. In April, commercial truck crossings through Laredo declined 4.7% to 254,060 vehicles.

As of Thursday, the Laredo market (OTMS.LRD) accounted for 0.67% of the total outbound truckload demand, an 8% week-over-week gain. However, it was much smaller than markets such as Kansas City, Missouri, and Dallas in the SONAR chart below. 

SONAR’s Outbound Tender Market Share index measures the percentage of total U.S. outbound load volume attributed to a particular market. To learn more about SONAR, click here.

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Noi Mahoney

Noi Mahoney is a Texas-based journalist who covers cross-border trade, logistics and supply chains for FreightWaves. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English in 1998. Mahoney has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working for newspapers in Maryland and Texas. Contact nmahoney@freightwaves.com