Tariff threats and trade wars may make headlines, but America’s deepest economic dependencies are not always what you expect. A closer look at U.S. import data reveals a fascinating pattern: while global trade is usually thought of in terms of oil, electronics, and cars, many countries serve highly specific roles in the American supply chain. In North America, this specialization often involves essential—but overlooked—commodities.
Take Canada. While it exports plenty of lumber, aluminum, and energy products, the item the U.S. depends on most from its northern neighbor is… live pigs. Over 99% of America’s imported live pigs come from Canada. It is not glamorous, but it is vital. This underscores the interdependence between the U.S. and Canada’s agricultural systems and the depth of regulatory alignment that makes such a trade flow seamless.
Mexico, meanwhile, isn’t just a manufacturing hub for cars and electronics. Its most U.S.-dominated export? Self-propelled rail transport vehicles—accounting for 94% of U.S. imports in that category. Mexico has quietly become a locomotive partner in America’s freight infrastructure, thanks to USMCA-era industrial policies and a robust North American manufacturing corridor. It is a trade that would be nearly impossible to replace quickly.
Further south, Central American countries specialize in lower-value, higher-volume agricultural goods. Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic are major sources of rolled tobacco, while Guatemala and Costa Rica handle bananas. Honduras and El Salvador lead in molasses. These trade flows are built on climatic advantage, legacy infrastructure, and labor costs. While none are strategically essential, they are economically sticky—hard to shift and finely tuned to U.S. consumer tastes.
There’s a broader lesson here: the U.S. relies on its neighbors for more than oil and cars. It leans on them for the physical infrastructure of daily life—from meatpacking inputs to rail cars and sweeteners. These items do not usually top trade talking points, but they are the connective tissue of North American economic integration. As the U.S. reconsiders industrial policy and “friend-shoring,” it might do well to focus less on factory headlines and more on pigs, locomotives, and molasses.