Latest news with #UnitedStates-Mexico
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Borderlands Mexico: Tariffs, language rule hit cross-border trucking
Borderlands Mexico is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Tariffs, language rule hit cross-border trucking; Kuehne+Nagel opens border logistics facility in Texas; Kuehne+Nagel opens border logistics facility in Texas; German automotive supplier expands in Mexico; and Sabine-Neches Waterway project secures $172M grant. President Donald Trump's tariff policies and new regulations are creating both challenges and opportunities for businesses engaging in U.S.-Mexico commerce. A looming hurdle for cross-border trucking could be Trump's recent executive order enforcing existing English-language proficiency rules for commercial truck drivers. Citing national safety and efficiency imperatives, the policy mandates that truck drivers demonstrate English proficiency in reading traffic signs, communicating with safety officials and adhering to employer mandate could significantly alter U.S.-Mexico trade by causing delays at the border and increased operational costs for shippers relying on Mexican carriers, according to Jordan Dewart, president of Redwood Mexico. 'This is a time where there's still a prevalence of drivers right now in the U.S., so it's not a huge concern today. But if these drivers start exiting the market, it could be a concern that ultimately affects capacity because non-English-speaking drivers come from Mexico or they're coming from India, Pakistan, Russia, all over the world,' Dewart said. 'They were the ones that kind of saved our backs during COVID, when we needed to scale up on driver capacity. And now we're saying, 'You can't drive anymore.'' Redwood Mexico is the cross-border shipping arm of Chicago-based fourth-party logistics provider Redwood Logistics. Since Feb. 2, Trump has also ordered a series of tariffs against imports from China, Mexico, Canada and almost every other nation that has trade with the U.S. The duties include a 10% baseline reciprocal tariff for all countries, as well as automotive sector-based Mexico and Canada, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on all imports that do not comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Trump has not imposed the additional 10% reciprocal tariffs on Canada and Mexico. As a result, the majority of U.S. imports from those two countries that are USMCA-compliant continue to enter the U.S. duty-free. Despite uncertainties across the supply chain created by tariffs, trucking volumes between the U.S. and Mexico have remained resilient. 'The last 60 days, it's been a period of relative normality. … We've seen volumes really start to pick up, especially, for example, in the retail sector, where it's kind of like if you don't ship now, you're going to miss your back-to-school sales, you're going to miss the fall, and you're going to miss even potentially Christmas sales,' Dewart told FreightWaves in an interview. 'So we're seeing retail customers come back for sure.' Dewart said the on-again, off-again imposition of tariffs has created some uncertainty among his cross-border clients. 'There's questions being asked from senior leaders, and usually they're going to logistics or to supply chain and saying, 'Hey, I need to know what's going on here. What can we do about tariffs?' It's kind of a mad scramble for them to get educated on these things,' Dewart said. 'Some products are actually required to pay [tariffs] because they don't qualify for USMCA or perhaps they qualify, but the customs broker has never gone through the process of actually getting it certified.' More customers are inquiring about foreign trade zones and reaching out to get to know their customs broker at the border, which has not necessarily been the case in the past, according to Dewart. 'I think for the first time, people are starting to want to reach out to their customs broker and they're kind of saying, 'Hey, what should I do? What can I do about these tariffs? What can you advise me to do?' Dewart said. 'They're asking about foreign trade zones. I wouldn't say there's a lot of usage of foreign trade zones yet or bonded warehouse space, but there's a lot of people asking, 'Hey, is that something that could work for me?''Global supply chain provider Kuehne+Nagel has opened a 432,000-square-foot cross-dock facility in Laredo, Texas. The facility consolidates three existing cross-dock facilities and doubles Kuehne+Nagel's capacity at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a news release. The facility includes 200 trailer parking stalls, 115 dock doors and two drive-in doors for cross-docking, warehousing, transloading and storage. The site includes a 17,500-square-foot foreign trade zone. 'Despite current challenges in global trade, we are confident nearshoring will continue, as it helps customers enhance supply chain resilience, reduces costs, and speeds up distribution,' Nathan Thomas, regional vice president for central area Kuehne+Nagel U.S., said in a statement. Kuehne+Nagel also has a 363,000-square-foot border logistics facility in El Paso, Texas, as well as facilities in San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. Headquartered in Switzerland, Kuehne+Nagel has over 80,000 employees at 1,300 locations in 100 countries. The company has 400,000 customers worldwide. Knipping Automotive recently opened its third facility in Mexico in the city of Huamantla. The $18 million plant will create 150 jobs and specialize in the production of plastic components for the automotive industry. Leingarten, Germany-based Knipping Automotive is a supplier to automakers such as Volkswagen and Audi. The company has 900 employees at six locations in Germany, Hungary and Mexico. Huamantla is located about 100 miles southeast of Mexico City. The Sabine-Neches Waterway will receive $172 million from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its channel-deepening project. The funds will be used to deepen the waterway from its current 40-foot depth to a depth of 48 feet. Once completed, the project will allow larger ships to reach Texas ports and waterway industries. The Sabine-Neches Waterway is 57 miles long and is the longest federal deep-draft ship channel on the Texas Gulf Coast. The project to deepen the ship channel began construction in 2019 and is estimated to take seven years to complete. The post Borderlands Mexico: Tariffs, language rule hit cross-border trucking appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Borderlands Mexico: Reshoring dipped across North America in 2024, report says
Borderlands Mexico is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Reshoring dipped across North America in 2024, report says; Unilever to invest $1.5B to expand in Mexico; Supply chain software provider opens office in Houston; and Border agents seize $1M in cocaine from truck at Texas bridge. Imports to the U.S. from China and 13 other low-cost countries and regions (LCCRs) in Asia, as well as from Mexico, grew faster than U.S. domestic manufacturing gross output in 2024. The situation could have a big impact on U.S. retailers and online sellers seeking to keep their inventories stocked going forward, according to management consultant Kearney's just-released Reshoring Index for 2025. 'The 2025 Reshoring Index points to a reality check that exposes the gap between reshoring intention and facts,' Patrick Van den Bossche, Kearney partner and study co-author, said in a news release. 'Despite executives being more committed than ever, this year's report found the Reshoring Index turning back to negative territory, tied to global trade's most basic drivers — supply and demand. This decline should not be interpreted to mean reshoring is going away, just that expectations for the strategy need to be tempered by market realities.' Led by categories such as computers, electronics and electrical equipment, manufactured imports from Asian LCCRs increased 10% year over year in 2024, or up $90 billion, compared to 2023. At just 1% year-over-year growth last year compared to 2023, U.S. manufacturing output barely increased, while U.S. imports of manufactured goods increased by 9% year over year, the report said. President Donald Trump has made restoring U.S. manufacturing a key goal of his trade and tariff policies since taking office in January. Kearney's Reshoring Index showed a decline of 311 basis points in its manufacturing import ratio for the U.S. in 2024, falling back into negative territory after two positive years in 2022 and 2023. The Reshoring Index is determined by dividing the import of manufactured goods from the Asian LCCRs by the U.S. domestic gross manufacturing output to calculate a manufacturing import ratio. Launched in 2013, the Kearney Reshoring Index tracks annual U.S. domestic manufacturing versus imports, while also gauging CEOs' sentiment to reshoring U.S. manufacturing operations. Mexico remained the United States' top trade partner for manufactured goods in 2024, accounting for 16% of total imports, or $457 billion, Kearney said. Most of Mexico's export gains came from three key sectors: computer and electronic products, transportation equipment, and electrical equipment, appliances, and components, which represent about 85% of Mexico's total U.S. exports. While Mexico remains a critical hub for the automotive and electronics sectors, its ability to absorb increased demand from the U.S. may be reaching its limit, according to the report Mexico faces export growth challenges due to infrastructure — particularly roads, energy and water — and rising wages. 'As U.S. demand outpaced what domestic production could supply, Mexico was not able to fill the gap. We saw manufacturers reverting to sourcing from those distant Asian low-cost countries and regions they had relied on in the past,' Kearney partner and report co-author Omar Troncoso said in release. Other cross-border experts remain more bullish on Mexico's growth as a trade partner with the U.S., even as the White House has launched an aggressive tariff policy on most foreign imports during Trump's first three months in office. 'The Trump administration's first 100 days were quite a ride, but I was and remain cautiously optimistic about the remainder of Trump's term,' Jorge Gonzalez Henrichsen, co-CEO of The Nearshore Co., told FreightWaves in an email. The Nearshore Co., based in Brownsville, Texas, is an international trade and development firm that helps companies set up shelter operations in Mexico. 'Clearly, China — not Mexico — is the main focus of this administration,' Henrichsen said. 'Even if the tariffs previously imposed on China were to ease in the coming weeks or months, the preferential treatment of Mexico over China would remain significant, further fueling Mexico's manufacturing momentum.' Kearney's Reshoring Index found the share of CEOs planning to reshore part of their operations in the U.S. over the next three years increased by 15% compared to the survey in 2024. Despite changing motivations, cost remains the most important driver of creating more manufacturing jobs in the U.S., the Kearney report noted. 'Global labor cost disparities continue to be a significant headwind. For the third year in a row, CEOs identified labor cost as the top challenge to reshoring and nearshoring, with nearly 25% ranking it as their primary barrier in this year's survey,' the Kearney report said. Packaged consumer goods company Unilever plans to invest $1.5 billion in Mexico between 2025 and 2028 to increase its production capacity. The investment includes $407 million for a factory near Monterrey, which will specialize in beauty products and personal care. The plant will create 1,200 jobs. Unilever is a British multinational consumer packaged goods manufacturer. The company has over 300 factories in 69 countries. London-based Unilever initially announced the new factory in April. The additional investments announced on Friday include expanding its logistics chain across Mexico to supply the Americas, officials said. 'This will be one of the most advanced factories we have in Latin America, located in Salinas Victoria. From here, we will produce beauty and personal care products for our leading brands like Dove, Rexona, and Sedal, with the capacity to supply both the domestic and Latin American markets,' Willem Uijen, Unilever's executive director, said in a Mexico Business News article. Log-hub announced the opening of an office in Houston aimed at providing logistics optimization software to the trade community. The Switzerland-based company, a software provider for supply chains, said the new facility reflects growing demand for advanced logistics tools. 'We are excited to bring our Swiss-rooted expertise in strategic network design, route optimization, data analytics, and AI closer to the North American market,' CEO Jan Sigmund said in a news release. 'This gives us a better position to help businesses create more resilient and efficient supply chains.' Log-hub, founded in 2017, has more than 60 employees. In addition to Houston, the company has locations in Switzerland, Germany, Serbia and India. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in South Texas said they discovered 30 packages of cocaine in a commercial trailer arriving from Mexico, according to a news release. On April 25, CBP officers assigned to the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge cargo facility found 77 pounds of alleged cocaine concealed in a tractor-trailer. The alleged cocaine has a street value of over $1 million. CBP seized the narcotics and truck. The case was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations. CBP did not say whether the driver was arrested. The post Borderlands Mexico: Reshoring dipped across North America in 2024, report says appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
82 people facing newly created criminal charge for entry along NM-Mexico border
This article was first published by Source New Mexico. Follow them for more at The United States Attorney in New Mexico announced Thursday that 82 people are facing brand new criminal charges aimed at cracking down on illegal crossings where Mexico shares a border with New Mexico. A recent land transfer from the Department of Interior to the Department of Defense effectively made the 170-mile stretch of United States-Mexico border in southwest New Mexico into a military base, authorizing federal troops to detain and transfer individuals to federal law enforcement for criminal charges, according to a news release. Those who are arrested in the 60-foot buffer zone can face charges for 'unauthorized entry into the New Mexico National Defense Areas,' according to charging documents, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison. The names of the 82 individuals charged were not immediately available, though federal court records show that U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison, who was named as the United States Attorney for New Mexico on April 18, personally signed 28 charging documents for named defendants on April 28. 'The Department of Justice will work hand in glove with the Department of Defense and Border Patrol to gain 100% operational control of New Mexico's 170-mile border with Mexico,' Ellison said in a news release. 'Trespassers into the National Defense Area will be Federally prosecuted—no exceptions.' United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks joined Ellison for a 'high-level visit' April 25. They touted the newly created criminal charge as a way to leverage 'expanded military and prosecutorial authority to deter unlawful border crossings,' according to the news release. Standing on the newly created National Defense Area in New Mexico on April 25, Hegseth warned that anyone caught there would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If you try to come in illegally as a cartel, or you try to smuggle or traffic. You will be detained by a member the U.S. military, and you will be handed over to US Customs and Border Patrol, and then you will be prosecuted by the US DOJ, and then you will be charged to the maximum extent of the law,' Hegseth said, according to video he posted to social media. The buffer zone along the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico, Arizona and California is known as the 'Roosevelt Reservation' and excludes areas of private or tribal land. Now that it's under control of the Defense Department, it's treated as an extension of the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Huachaca in Cochise County, Arizona. Rebecca Sheff, an attorney with the ACLU of New Mexico, said in an April 22 news release statement that the newly created military buffer zone 'represents a dangerous erosion of the constitutional principle that the military should not be policing civilians.' She also said U.S. citizens who live near the border could be prosecuted under the newly created statutes. Patrick Lohmann has been a reporter since 2007, when he wrote stories for $15 apiece at a now-defunct tabloid in Gallup, his hometown. Since then, he's worked at UNM's Daily Lobo, the Albuquerque Journal and the Syracuse Post-Standard. This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: NM US Attorney charges 82 people for entry along NM-Mexico border
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Borderlands Mexico: ILS boosts cross-border freight with Arizona facility
Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: ILS boosts cross-border freight with Arizona facility; British wire harness maker plans new facility in Mexico; RK Logistics adds free trade zone warehouse space; and Texas border agents discover $8M worth of meth in shipment from Mexico. The International Logistics Solutions (ILS) Co. continues to invest in U.S.-Mexico trade, regardless of the ups and downs of the White House's current trade policies. Earlier this month, ILS opened a 115,000-square-foot distribution center in Tucson, Arizona. The facility aims to serve industries that rely heavily on cross-border shipments between Mexico and the U.S., company officials said. 'Our major customers are in the automotive and aerospace industries, and some industrial materials,' Tirzo Gortary, director of the ILS distribution center in Tucson, told FreightWaves in an interview. 'We see a lot of our logistics parts either getting manufactured for or either delivered to GM, Tesla and Ford. Our customers are either customers that had manufacturing in the U.S. and in Mexico, or they could be suppliers that are outside of Mexico, outside of the U.S., that provide raw materials.' The ILS Co., founded in 2002, is based in Tucson. The company is a logistics and supply chain management provider. In 2024, ILS' import and export departments declared over $1.7 billion in shipments entering or leaving Mexico. In addition to aerospace and automotive, ILS serves industries such as medical, construction, oil and gas, mining, renewable energy, and Mexico's maquiladora businesses. A maquiladora is a foreign-owned factory located near the U.S.-Mexico border that operates under a favorable duty- or tariff-free basis. The factory assembles imported goods for export, often to the U.S. The ILS Co. is also the logistics arm of Tetakawi, one of the largest providers of outsourcing solutions to firms that have manufacturing operations in Mexico. 'Our parent company is Tetakawi, one of the largest employers in [the Mexican state of] Sonora,' Gortary said. 'They have manufacturing facilities in [the Mexican cities] of Guaymas, Empalme and Hermosillo. They work with companies that want to manufacture in Mexico or that have a contractor manufacturing in Mexico.' Tucson is in the Arizona-Sonora trade corridor, a regional gateway for $32 billion worth of goods annually crossing between the U.S. and Mexico, according to a recent survey by the Arizona Department of Transportation. Arizona has six commercial ports of entry along its border with Mexico, including Nogales, Lukeville, Sasabe, Douglas, San Luis and Naco. Automotive suppliers in Sonora ship over 100,000 auto parts daily back and forth across the border with Arizona, according to The ILS Co. Gortary said the Tucson distribution center aims to help clients by consolidating services in one facility. 'The facility is a cross-dock – it's a consolidation point, basically, for imports and exports,' Gortary said. 'For new inspections, we have on-site Mexican brokers. We have U.S. broker partners. Our customers are creating purchase orders that are coming from the U.S. manufacturers, Asian manufacturers, and they just happen to arrive in Tucson, and we just take care of all the logistics and getting them imported and into manufacturing facilities.' Volex recently began construction of a manufacturing facility in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The United Kingdom-based company specializes in the manufacturing of wire harness assemblies. The plant will generate over 2,000 jobs, according to a news release. Officials did not provide a timeline for the plant's construction. San Luis Potosi is in central Mexico, about 450 miles from Laredo, Texas. Volex has 28 manufacturing locations and a workforce of over 14,000 employees across 25 countries. The company is a supplier to industries such as industrial technology, consumer electricals, electric vehicles, medical and automotive. RK Logistics Group has expanded its customs bonded warehouse and foreign trade zone (FTZs) capacity at its facilities in California, Texas, Arizona, New York and Michigan. The facilities boost RK Logistics' service offerings, with the expanded FTZs allowing businesses to defer, reduce or eliminate customs duties, streamline operations, and optimize cash flow for goods entering domestic and international markets, according to a news release. 'This expansion underscores our commitment to supporting clients in a complex global trade landscape,' Joe MacLean, CEO of RK Logistics Group, said in a statement. RK Logistics Group, based in Fremont, California, is a 3PL that targets high-tech companies. The company has 17 facilities in five states totaling 1.7 million square feet of warehouse space. U.S. Customs and Border Protection in South Texas recently intercepted $8.9 million in alleged methamphetamine concealed in a shipment of chayote from Mexico. Chayote is also known as vegetable pear and is a pear-shaped squash native to Mexico, according to a news release. On April 13 at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge in Pharr, Texas, CBP officers searched a tractor-trailer arriving from Mexico. They found packages containing 1,002 pounds of methamphetamine hidden inside the shipment. CBP seized the narcotics and vehicle and turned the case over to Homeland Security Investigations. The post Borderlands Mexico: ILS boosts cross-border freight with Arizona facility appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Borderlands Mexico: Source Logistics eyes rising US demand for Hispanic brands
Borderlands Mexico is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Source Logistics eyes rising US demand for Hispanic brands; South Korean automotive supplier opens $160M facility in Mexico; Otay Mesa border crossing secures $150M federal grant; and CBP snags $14M in meth from tractor-trailer. With Hispanics making up 20% of the U.S. population and growing annually, officials at Source Logistics see big opportunities to bring food and beverage brands from south of the border into the U.S. market. 'With these fast-growing companies, you need a logistics partner that is willing and able to grow with you, to expand with you, to make the beds with you,' Raul Villarreal, CEO of Source Logistics, told FreightWaves in an interview. Source Logistics, with its headquarters near Houston, is a provider of transportation, warehousing, distribution and fulfillment services. The company was founded in 1999 by Villarreal and Marcelo Sada, former CEO and now president of corporate development. Since the beginning, Source Logistics has focused on helping Hispanic food and beverage brands expand into the U.S. market. That effort has only become more relevant over the years. The U.S. Hispanic/Latino population grew to just over 65 million in 2023, an increase 1.8% from the prior year, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Hispanic/Latino purchasing power is currently measured at $3.78 trillion, according to a recent report from think tank The Latino Donor Collaborative. 'We are truly focused on the import business. We help companies abroad; we understand what they go through when they're trying to penetrate the market,' Villarreal said. 'When we sit down and we talk about potential solutions, we think one of the most important things is that we see each individual customer as a unique customer with unique challenges. It allows us to really find or identify potential solutions for customers that are bringing products from abroad.' One brand that Source Logistics has helped to grow in the U.S. is Electrolit, a popular Mexican hydration beverage. 'The Electrolit brand is one of the fastest-growing beverage brands with double-digit annual growth rates,' Daniel Dibos, supply chain and logistics director at Electrolit USA, said in a news release that also credited Source Logistics' 10-year partnership with Electrolit. The next phase of Source Logistics' growth plans includes targeting markets in Atlanta, Florida and the Mid-Atlantic U.S., and adding 20% capacity to the company's existing footprint. The strategy is supported by recent investments from New York-based financial services firm Palladium Equity Partners, which acquired Source Logistics in November 2023. The firm has invested $1.5 billion in the U.S. Hispanic market since Palladium was founded in 1997. Since the beginning of the year, Source Logistics has opened a 271,000-square-feet warehouse in Dallas, along with a 425,000-square-foot warehouse in Laredo, Texas. Source Logistics also recently acquired the warehousing business of LaGrou Distribution, adding 2 million square-feet of logistics space across eight new warehouses in the Chicago area. With the recent acquisition and new warehouses, Source Logistics has a total network of 5.6 million square feet of logistics space in 24 locations across the U.S., including Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon; Houston; and New Jersey. Villarreal said the company can now offer distribution services to reach over 75% of the U.S. population within the same day. 'Part of our strategy is to eventually reach 95% of the U.S. population within same-day transportation,' Villarreal said. 'Before we acquired LaGrou, we were covering 71% of the Hispanic population in the U.S. and 52% of the U.S. population. With the acquisition, we increase our reach to 80% of the Hispanic population and 75% U.S. population.' Seojin Mobility recently completed the first phase of construction for an auto parts plant in the Mexican city of General Escobedo. The factory will manufacture components for electric vehicles and create 300 direct jobs. The initial investment in the facility was $160 million, according to a news release. A second phase of construction at the factory is scheduled to be completed in 2028 and includes an additional investment of $140 million. General Escobedo is about 14 miles north of Monterrey and 155 miles south of Laredo. Seojin Mobility, headquartered in Siheung, South Korea, is the primary supplier for Hyundai and Kia and also works with General Motors, Ferrari, Renault and Volvo. The Otay Mesa East-Otay II border crossing project recently received a $150 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Otay Mesa is on the border with Tijuana, Mexico, just south of San Diego. The grant will be used to complete construction of the new port of entry, as well as the project's technology package, according to a news release. Otay Mesa East-Otay II will be 3 miles east of the original Otay Mesa port of entry. It will include 10 lanes – five for passenger vehicles and five for cargo transport. The project's total cost has been estimated at more than $1 billion. Construction on the U.S. side is scheduled to begin in the fall with the plan of opening in late 2027. Construction on the Mexican side of the border is almost complete. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers recently seized more than 300 packages of alleged methamphetamine from a truck entering the U.S. from Mexico. On April 11 at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge in Pharr, Texas, CBP officers discovered the alleged meth concealed in a shipment of fresh bell peppers and cucumbers, according to a news release. The alleged narcotics have a street value of $14.62 million. CBP officers seized the narcotics and vehicle and turned the case over to Homeland Security Investigations. CBP did not say if the truck driver was arrested or released. The post Borderlands Mexico: Source Logistics eyes rising US demand for Hispanic brands appeared first on FreightWaves.
