The Oil Trade Between Mexico and the United States Under the 1942 Trade Agreement

The objective of this article is to analyze the oil trade and associated activities between Mexico and the United States between 1943 and 1950, the period during which the trade agreement signed in 1942 was in effect. This article identifies the products that were the object of this trade, the conditions under which the trade agreement was developed, how it evolved over the course of this period and if there were changes in trade concentration as a result of this agreement. It also explains the reasons for these changes due to the needs of the Mexican and American economies, using this case to evaluate the opportunities and limitations of the 1942 trade agreement. This article is based on statistics taken from Mexico's National Bank of Foreign Trade and General Statistics Department; contemporary Mexican and American documents, especially those of a diplomatic nature; and secondary literature. This article is the first analysis of the oil trade between Mexico and the United States during the 1940s, as the literature on the history of the industry centers on the 1938 oil expropriation and the subsequent diplomatic negotiations.