It is not new that the supply chain of the vast majority of industries was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the disruptions caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine, which is why companies have chosen to improve their strategies and some have found in nearshoring a solution to the supply and procurement of their inputs.

For some, regionalization has been a step backwards in globalization, however, the high costs, times and long routes, as well as an approach towards a more sustainable transport, have caused companies to seek this solution, as expressed by the speakers of the round table entitled U.S.-Mexico Supply Chain Resilency.

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Andrew I. Rudman, director of the Wilson Center's Mexico Institute, pointed out that, although this trend already existed before the health crisis, it was exacerbated by the pandemic. At this time, Mexico and the United States are on the right track, focusing on economic dialogue, however, there is still a long way to go to strengthen the supply chain.

Regionalization and the new customs system implemented between the two countries around the free trade agreement benefits both, as they project an annual increase of 3 to 5% in traffic on the Laredo bridge, the largest of all border crossings. between both countries.

Mexico maintains great potential in terms of nearshoring, as many companies are seeking to establish themselves in the country, highlighting the importance of Mexican ports such as Ensenada, Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas. One point of improvement is to allocate more investment to technology and thus within the supply chain of companies.

In addition, on the subject of sustainability, J.D. Gonzalez, president of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarding Association of America, pointed out that customers are focusing on buying increasingly more sustainable products, so companies should focus more on these issues.

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Likewise, the speakers highlighted the importance of electronic commerce so that companies can grow and reach more, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), for which J.D. Gonzalez made a call to "the big 3: UPS, FedEx and DHL", as companies that can cross borders, to promote this cause and make the process easier.

On the other hand, Andrew Rudman pointed out that another of the problems in supply chains is that companies use only one route, so it could cause an interruption if it closes or something happens along the way, so the strategy of companies should establish alternative routes.

There are definitely many challenges that the supply chain has gone through and that will surely continue to appear, such as the shortage of transport drivers, to give an example, but the pandemic has made value chains resilient and companies must rely on experience to get ahead, according to specialists.

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