Mexico’s electronic industry continues to evolve, due in part because of NAFTA and the growing competition from Asian countries.  In addition, the growth of electronic components has lately been driven by a switch to new product lines in the aerospace, automotive, network equipment, game consoles, printers, high capacity servers, storage media, and consumer electronics industries, which continue to be the largest users of electronic components.  Consumer electronics is the second most important export manufacturing industry in Mexico, and according to the Chamber of Electronics, in 2005 contributed approximately 4.5 percent to Mexico’s manufacturing GDP.

      In 2005, about 38 percent of all electronic components imported to Mexico were from the United States, representing a 9.63 percent decrease from the previous year.  Nevertheless, China had an increase of 31 percent, while Japan and Korea had increases of 26 percent and 29 percent respectively.

      There are competitive advantages for Mexican electronic firms to import components from U.S. suppliers under NAFTA, including short lead times in transportation, virtually 100 percent duty-free electronic components, and streamlined customs procedures. In addition, NAFTA has led to increased foreign...

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