U.S.-Mexico Trade Hits a Record $94.8 Billion in July — and Laredo's Trucks Are Already Feeling It

The United States and Mexico traded $94.8 billion in goods in July 2026, a monthly record and a 27.5% jump from the $74.36 billion the two countries exchanged a year earlier, according to WorldCity's analysis of U.S. Census Bureau trade data. U.S. exports to Mexico rose 18.1% to $34.24 billion; imports from Mexico climbed 33.5% to $60.55 billion.

Mexico's tally put it well ahead of Canada ($62.8 billion) and China ($36.8 billion) among U.S. trading partners in July, and pushed Mexico's share of total U.S. international trade to nearly 18%. Through the first seven months of 2026, two-way U.S.-Mexico commerce totaled $588.52 billion, up 16.1% from the same period in 2025.

The Census Bureau's own July release, "U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, July 2026" (CB 26-142/BEA 26-40, published Sept. 3), shows the broader picture into which that Mexico volume fed: the overall U.S. goods-and-services deficit widened to $88.6 billion in July, up $17.4 billion from a revised $71.2 billion in June, as imports rose $10.8 billion to $399.3 billion while exports slipped $6.6 billion to $310.7 billion. The bureau's country-level exhibit puts July's Mexico goods deficit at $27.5 billion on $32.6 billion of exports and $60.1 billion of imports — figures on a slightly different accounting basis than WorldCity's headline numbers, but pointing the same direction: imports from Mexico are growing far faster than exports to it.

Laredo carries the weight

Laredo, Texas — the largest land port on the southern border — processed $36.95 billion of two-way trade in July, up 22% from $30.29 billion a year earlier, according to the WorldCity analysis relayed by FreightWaves. Mexico-bound and Mexico-origin freight accounted for $35.9 billion of that, meaning Laredo alone handled roughly 40% of all U.S.-Mexico trade in the month. Exports through the crossing rose 16.5% to $12.46 billion; imports rose 25% to $24.48 billion.

Motor vehicle parts remained Laredo's largest outbound commodity at $1.31 billion, up 19.2% year over year. Diesel engines jumped roughly 85% to $433.8 million, and motor vehicle engines rose 21% to $284.7 million — a commodity mix that tracks the auto and heavy-truck manufacturing capacity that has been relocating toward Mexico and the U.S. Southeast over the past two years.

The freight isn't moving frictionlessly. FreightWaves' reporting on the July numbers cites a Laredo Van Outbound Tender Rejection Index of 11.18% — meaning carriers are turning away more than one in nine contracted outbound loads, a level that points to a truck shortage relative to demand rather than a demand slump. That tracks with a pattern independent reporting has flagged on this lane before: outbound volume at Laredo has periodically outrun available capacity because the market is small in national terms — well under 1% of U.S. outbound tender volume — which makes it easy for a surge in cross-border demand to overwhelm the trucks actually positioned there, since carriers without a return load have to eat the cost of repositioning empty.

What this means for forwarders and brokers

Four things worth tracking out of this data:

Capacity at the crossing is the near-term constraint, not the paperwork. An 11%-plus rejection rate on Laredo van freight means shippers quoting standard tariffs risk getting bumped during peak building; brokers sourcing capacity into or out of Nuevo Laredo should expect to pay a premium for guaranteed pickup through Q4, particularly on van freight tied to the automotive and engine-parts lanes driving the volume.

The export-import gap is widening, which reshapes backhaul economics. Imports from Mexico are growing almost twice as fast as exports to it (33.5% versus 18.1% year over year). That asymmetry typically means more loaded trucks heading north and more empty or lightly-loaded capacity heading south — a dynamic that pressures southbound rates down and northbound rates up, and rewards drayage and trucking operators who can build genuine two-way lanes rather than one-directional ones.

Commodity concentration flags where the volume is durable. Motor vehicle parts and engines aren't spot-market freight; they move on production schedules and long-term supplier contracts. A forwarder building capacity commitments around this corridor is betting on manufacturing relocation that has already been underway, not a one-month spike — which argues for termed capacity agreements over relying on the spot market at Laredo through peak season.

The Census and WorldCity numbers don't fully reconcile, and that's worth knowing before quoting either one. The Census Bureau's official country exhibit shows July exports to Mexico at $32.6 billion and imports at $60.1 billion — about $1.9 billion lower in aggregate than the $94.8 billion WorldCity/FreightWaves figure. The gap likely reflects different revision timing or seasonal-adjustment treatment between the two releases; forwarders citing either figure to customers should note which source and vintage they're using.