Texas to Mexico: A border to avoid

Abstract

Shipping into Mexico by land from the United States is a unique and often expensive process. It is unique for two reasons: the practices of the Mexican customs broker on the southern border of the U.S. and the practices of the drayage motor carrier industry at the border. Both of these factors are quite different from what many shippers expect. Because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the general image of Mexico as a developing nation with strong ties to the U.S., U.S. shippers and carriers expect that the movement of goods into Mexico should be almost free of barriers, be sophisticated, and relatively inexpensive. Unfortunately, at the core of the Mexican customs philosophy, Third World thinking is still dominant and some border cities and businesses support and practice unsophisticated international commercial procedures which culminate in a border environment antithetical to seamless cargo flows.