Thousands and thousands of jalopies, hunks of junk and wrecks on wheels.  This is what the people who use the Santa Teresa Port of Entry in New Mexico to enter and exit Mexico had to navigate until recently.  In February of 2002, U.S. customs shifted the export of used vehicles into Mexico from the Zaragoza Bridge in El Paso-Juarez to Santa Teresa.  This was done for two reasons.  After September 11, there were security concerns that used cars, parked and waiting to be exported at this El Paso bridge, could be used by terrorists to set off bombs in a heavily populated area.  Secondly, the used cars, which are exported to Mexico by the thousands, added to the already congested nature of this crossing between El Paso and Juarez .   

For years, the Mexican government has strictly restricted the import of new automobiles manufactured in other countries in order to protect its local auto industry.  This has resulted in Mexico having new car prices that are astronomically high compared to the U.S.   Furthermore, the generous credit financing and amortization terms offered car buyers in the U.S. are virtually non-existent in Mexico .  Therefore, Mexicans wishing to purchase a new auto in Mexico are faced with having to come up with a tremendous amount of cash to drive the vehicle off the lot. 

The solution for millions of Mexicans is to buy a used vehicle imported from the U.S.   In remote places such as Trinidad, Colorado, auto auctions targeted at Mexican used car buyers have sprung up to service this need.  These vehicles are often wrecked or out of commission when they are exported to Mexico .  Mexican body shop people and mechanics then refurbish these cars that are sold at a tidy profit.  The Mexican auto importers have become an important part of the border commercial trade between the U.S. and Mexico .

When the switch to the Santa Teresa port for the southbound export of these used vehicles occurred, the transition was painful at first.  Mexican auto customs brokers complained about having to shift their business to Santa Teresa, which they deemed to be too far from the center of the El Paso-Juarez region.  The mass of used vehicles severely challenged the customs people at the port to efficiently handle and process the exports.  Cars used to have to sit by the port for 72 hours before being exported to Mexico in order to verify that they were not stolen and their papers were in order.  This resulted in huge lines of used vehicles parked on either side of the road waiting for their turn to be hauled into Mexico .

The flow increased so much that at times there were two miles of used vehicles parked on the side of the Pete V. Domenici Highway leading to the port.  This created a circus-like atmosphere of people sleeping in the cars at night so as not to lose their place in line when the customs offices opened the next day.  It also created an underground economy of illegal food and beverage vendors profiting from the flow of traffic.

Two years later, the auto brokers have became accustomed to their new export point.  The U.S. and Mexican customs officials at Santa Teresa have worked together to create an efficient system to process the vehicles and to get them off the highway.  Most importantly, used vehicle exports are now having a tremendous effect on New Mexico ’s trade figures with Mexico . 

In 2002, New Mexico exported a paltry $116.6 million to Mexico .  In 2003, this figure more than doubled to $242 million, a 107.5 percent increase.  This is still a small showing for a state that shares a border with Mexico , and still ranks behind other U.S. states in the south and east in terms of trade with Mexico .  However, this is a spectacular increase, and propels New Mexico to the upper echelon of U.S. states with increases in exports to Mexico . 

Before Santa Teresa’s selection as the Paso del Norte’s point of export for used vehicles bound for Mexico , New Mexico exported a total of $430,000 worth of vehicles to this country.  Since then, the state has exported approximately $39.2 million to Mexico or 91 times as much.  Used vehicles are now New Mexico ’s biggest export category to Mexico .   

            The effects of these exports also are being felt at the Santa Teresa port.  In 2002, imports at Santa Teresa totaled $659 million, and exports totaled $62.9 million.  In 2003, imports at this port totaled $677.8 million, while exports skyrocketed to $262.5 million, a fourfold increase in only one year.  The used vehicles are responsible for increasing New Mexico ’s percentage share of Paso del Norte region’s international crossings from 1.98 percent to 2.48 percent during this same time period.

Granted, these export numbers are somewhat misleading, because practically none of the cars were manufactured in New Mexico , and very few were bought in the state for export to Mexico .  However, the huge increase of southbound exports at Santa Teresa allows the port’s officials and New Mexico ’s state and federal delegations to make a claim for increased funding and personnel at this port. 

Traditionally, New Mexico ’s ports have played second fiddle to their larger cousins in El Paso .  This is logical given the discrepancy of trade flows at the Zaragoza and Cordova Bridges in El Paso compared to the tiny trickle at New Mexico ’s three border crossings.  A case can be made that the increase in New Mexico ’s exports is simply a shift in southbound exports from El Paso to New Mexico , an “intramural” effect if you will.  However, this small shift, which I suspect very few people in El Paso-Juarez have noticed or felt, is having a major effect on New Mexico ’s relationship with Mexico .

  Also important is the attention that the state will receive by such a dramatic increase in trade with its neighbor to the south, particularly given New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s push to increase trade with Mexico.  How many policymakers in Washington or Mexico City see a large trade increase without analyzing what is actually occurring, and automatically assume that the state is a player?  State officials can use this trade increase to their advantage as they try to boost New Mexico ’s weak trade relationship with Mexico .    

Who would have thought that a rolling junkyard would be a catalyst to spark New Mexico ’s trade with Mexico ?  This is a great example that trade is a gradual process, which is built transaction by transaction.  Or in New Mexico ’s case, junker by junker.