Image from Michael SKOPAL for Unsplash

Nuevo Laredo is, quite likely, one of the most important trade points on the planet. Yet despite its great prominence it rarely receives as much coverage as major choke points to global commerce. 

By numbers, it is the single most important crossing point for commercial goods between Mexico and the US which, in turn, represents the most prominent trade relationship of the largest economy in the world. More so now that Mexico surpassed China as the top trade partner to the US, Nuevo Laredo’s prominence is only likely to increase. All this at a time when western nations are looking to Mexico as the crown jewel of a global nearshoring trend.

Given its relevance, this week we wanted to take a closer look at Nuevo Laredo: why it plays such a  crucial role in commerce and just how prominent that role truly is.

Where Is Nuevo Laredo?

Nuevo Laredo is a town of over 425,000 people located right on the border of the U.S. and Mexico in the state of Tamaulipas. However, when we speak of Nuevo Laredo, we are often referencing a much broader area that includes the neighboring city of Laredo, in Texas. This, in great part, is because Nuevo Laredo is an international city that lives, in great part, from the increased trade between Mexico and the US.

So, Nuevo Laredo is more than just a city: it is a link between Mexico and the U.S. through a series of four bridges between Laredo County and Mexico. In fact, of the four bridges, only the first two (Bridge I and Bridge II) are located within the confines of Nuevo Laredo. Bridge IV is located further north in the outer confines of the city and Bridge III is located in Colombia, Nuevo León—a different city altogether. It is through these bridges—as we will cover in the subsequent sections—that most of Mexico’s cargo enters the U.S. on a daily basis.

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Nuevo Laredo International Trade and Tourism Importance

Nuevo Laredo’s importance is deeply tied to the US-Mexico border. While the city might just be moderate in size, it holds a disproportionate weight in terms of commerce. In 2023 alone, it registered over two million truck crossings—a significant feat given that over 87.3% of all transportation revenues in Mexico were related to trucks. Otay Mesa, in California, came in a distant second position, with 1.03 million truck crossings. That is, Laredo handled twice as much truck traffic as the second busiest border crossing and, at the same time, 39.9% of the total truck crossings between the two countries.

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But there is much more to Nuevo Laredo than just trucks. The city has slowly grown into a trans national hub, where hundreds of thousands of people cross the border every month. According to the most recent data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, monthly crossings between Laredo and Nuevo Laredo are consistently above one million people—and, in recent months, have even approached two million. Thus signaling a great flow of people comparable or even much more important than that of commercial goods.

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Simply put, the value of Nuevo Laredo is not in the city’s natural resources or other external factors. Instead, it is based on a profound ability to manage large amounts of trade between the largest economy in the world and its largest partner: Mexico and the US.

How Many Vehicles Cross Through Nuevo Laredo?

We already talked briefly about the number of truck crossings in Laredo which, by far, is the clearest signal of Laredo’s commercial might. The same pattern, however, is repeated when looking at personal vehicles—going hand in hand with the high number of pedestrian crossings mentioned in the previous section. In 2023 alone, it was estimated that some 8.2 million personal vehicles entered the US through Nuevo Laredo—accounting for 10.8% of all crossings at the border. Although, in this metric, Laredo fell to the second position right below San Ysidro, connecting California with the Mexican city of Tijuana.

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A similar, albeit less considerable, pattern emerges when looking at train traffic. On average, in recent years, Nuevo Laredo has experienced rail traffic of over 300 locomotive crossings a month. Although these numbers pail in comparison to those of trucks and personal vehicles, it is worth noting that rail cargo is known to carry significantly more goods at a time than a single container.

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What Does Nuevo Laredo Export?

In 2023 alone, it was estimated that over $4.3 bn worth of goods entered the US market through Nuevo Laredo. Yet despite the large value of these goods, they all focused on one sector: electronic components. The single largest category of trade for Nuevo Laredo were electric heating devices accounting for 14% of all goods exported from the city. They were followed by water heaters (12.1%) and refrigerator units (9.15%). Medical devices, as a subcategory, accounted for an additional 29.5% of commerce in Nuevo Laredo. All this suggests that, despite common misconceptions about the Mexican economy—and a misguided belief that Mexico is mostly an agrarian nation—, the country is actually producing complex electronics that are then sold to the global economy. Nuevo Laredo is just an exit point that evidences such a fact.

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