Mexico Is China’s Back Door Into the United States

What once looked like ordinary trade expansion has evolved into something far more consequential.

Vehicles sit in traffic while waiting to cross the U.S.–Mexico border in Laredo, Texas, on Feb. 3, 2025. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Commentary

The U.S. efforts to reduce China’s influence in Latin America via Panama and Venezuela are missing a significant source of Chinese counter-U.S. action in the hemisphere. In several ways, Mexico is China’s greatest strategic partner, as Beijing’s penetration of the United States increasingly runs through Mexico.