The Complicated Relationship: A Snapshot of the U.S.-Mexico Border

The United States-Mexico border has long been a place of exchange: Mexico was the United States’ third largest supplier of goods imports in 2008.1 The U.S. also sends its goods to Mexico, its second largest goods export market. Other things cross the border: people, capital, technology, services, contraband goods, even human and plant diseases. With each year, the border changes in complexity and composition.