Trade between the USA and Mexico has never been greater, accounting for 16.3% of the United States’ total trade in the first quarter of 2026, confirming that the two countries remain each other’s largest commercial partner. Between January and March, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, trade reached a total value of USD $231.3 billion, with the figure representing a staggering increase of 7.4% compared to the first quarter of 2025. Not only is it a significant commercial relationship, it’s also a burgeoning one.
Among this growing mutual dependency, one of the fastest growing areas lies in outsourcing, namely the hiring of a third-party company or independent contractor to perform specific tasks or provide certain services, such as IT support or human resources. It’s a particularly desirable business strategy because it helps businesses access particular skill sets, reduce labor costs, scale operations quickly, whilst maintaining attention and focus on central core operations. Not only is it a common business practice, it is increasingly in demand, with the global outsourcing services market currently standing at a value of USD $855 billion in 2025, and is expected to grow to more than $1 trillion by 2030. The strategy comes with clear benefits, but also some risks too.
On the upside, a reduction in labor costs is the most obvious, with US companies that outsource to Mexico reporting savings of between 47% and 65% depending on industry roles, providing a significant boost in cost-benefit. And it’s not just wages: savings extend into operational costs including infrastructure overheads, recruitment costs and others. If you want to save money as a US business, the easiest way is to outsource a section of your business to Mexico, especially with the added benefits of the country’s increasing talent pool; take, for example, the fact that Mexico produces more engineers per year than the United States, almost all of whom are bilingual.
A further desirable, which makes internal company operations smooth, lies in the nearshoring time zone alignment: all of Mexico is either at or near the US time zones, making workday operations frictionless across the border. It’s a clear advantage which the likes of India as a competitor is impossibly removed from.
Notwithstanding, it’s not all plain sailing, and companies have the capacity to run into trouble. A clear example of the way in which this might happen has been recently seen with the now-infamous case known as the Caso Huerta (referring to alleged misconduct on the part of Oscar Gerardo Huerta Pérez), which has struck at the heart of the outsourcing community in San Luis Potosi, a city which has staked much of its economic development on the practice over the last decade.
The case, involving US company AccuHealth Technologies, revolves around a cross-border labor dispute using non-verified facts and the alleged serving of legal papers to the executives of AccuHealth Technologies, which never in fact took place. In short, it is a case in which the alleged misuse of Mexico’s judicial system, with no awareness on the part of AccuHealth Technologies’s US executives, led to their being found liable in a judgment worth nearly USD $2.5 million. The parties involved had no knowledge of the legal action, and consequently no opportunity to defend against it.
It’s a case which highlights the pitfalls of what can go wrong as and when a rogue agent in a cross-border relationship weaponises local knowledge and infrastructure. It’s also the likes of a case which not only harms a particular business agreement, but also has the capacity to strike deep into the heart of the entire outsourcing symbiosis between the countries. It’s a case which, if unresolved, is likely to dramatically reduce confidence in US investment south of the border.
For outsourcing, and for trade between the countries more generally, the sky is the limit as regards business potential, a fact which the recently published figures demonstrate. But these relationships, nonetheless, remain vulnerable to rogue actors, actions and events which demand oversight and political engagement in order to be streamlined, and for the limitless cross-border benefits to fulfil their full potential.
Alex Smith, for the San Luis Potosi Post
