Japan-Mexico Trade Up 20% After Free-Trade Deal

Trade between Japan and Mexico increased by over 20% after a bilateral free trade agreement took effect in April 2005, a study said April 7. Between April and December 2005, overall trade between Japan and Mexico was up 21.9% from a year earlier, well ahead of average annual growth of 7.9% over the past decade, the Japan External Trade Organization said.

Mexico's imports from Japan jumped 22.3% to US$10.4 billion, led by shipments of automobiles, while Japan's imports from Mexico rose 19.2% to $1.9 billion.

The major driving force behind the upswing was the introduction of new tariff-free quotas on finished cars from Japan, the report said.

Japanese investment in Mexico in 2005 soared three-fold to $629 million. Mexico is the 19th biggest market for Japanese goods.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006