NM exports up 14% in first half of year

New Mexico’s worldwide exports jumped 14 percent in the first half of 2018, despite the country’s trade disputes with China and other nations, according to the latest U.S. Commerce Department statistics.

Sales to China were particularly strong, jumping 44 percent from January-June, from $463 million in 2017 to $667 million this year.

That largely reflects the ebb and flow of trade between Intel Corp. in Rio Rancho and its sister facilities in Asia and other regions. Sales to China leapt from $497 million in 2016 to $1 billion last year, the vast majority of it computers and electronic products that are generally attributed to Intel.

Sales to Mexico, the state’s largest trading partner, climbed about 3.4 percent in the January-June period, from $811 million in 2017 to $839 million in the first half of this year.

That’s a significant improvement over the last two years. Sales to Mexico fell in late 2016 and early 2017 as uncertainty loomed over the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement following President Donald Trump’s electoral victory.

Sales to Mexico fell 7 percent in 2016 to $1.56 billion, and then flatlined last year at about $1.59 billion.

Given the uncertainty about NAFTA, however, even a slight rebound this year is encouraging, said Jerry Pacheco, executive director of the International Business Accelerator in Santa Teresa and president of the Border

Trade Alliance.

“To me, it’s a victory,” Pacheco said. “I had expected a significant dip in exports, but that hasn’t happened, despite all the trade uncertainty.”

Still, the impact of newly imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, plus proposed changes to NAFTA negotiated by the U.S. and its trade partners, may show up in export totals in coming years, said Robert Queen, director of the U.S. Commerce Department’s New Mexico Export Assistance Center.

“The state’s exports are pretty stable now, but these statistics are only for a sixmonth period,” Queen said. “We need to see full-year data, not just for 2018, but for next year as well to see how steel tariffs and other changes in trade impact export trends.”