San Diego is uniquely situated as the largest city directly on the border with our southern neighbor and our economy is intertwined with Baja’s. Citizens of this emerging super-region benefit when both San Diego and Mexico prosper.
According to recent trade data 98% of San Diego exports and 77% of imports are with Mexico. Mexican citizens spend well over $5 million each day in San Diego. Tens of thousands of jobs in a wide variety of fields now depend on the healthy trading relationship between San Diego and our neighbor to the South.
The 13 years since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement have been proved the naysayers wrong. San Diego’s trade with Mexico has tripled since the treaty went into effect. San Diego employers such as Solar Turbines, Kyocera, Sony and scores of others are showing that cross-border ties work extremely well for both Mexican and San Diego workers.
For this mutually beneficial relationship to continue, San Diego needs a Mexico that is strong, stable and prosperous. We have a direct interest in Mexico following a model of free trade, free and competitive markets, respect for the rule of law, environmental protection and a low tolerance for crime and corruption. San Diegans should pay attention and support recent efforts by the new Federal government in Mexico City to crack down on the drug trade. A positive resolution to these issues will help increase economic activity in Baja.
Those who believe that for one country to win the other has to lose have it exactly backward. A lagging economy in Mexico can have a devastating effect on the American jobs that are tied to those exports. Similarly, America has an interest in the economic growth necessary for Mexico to improve the purchasing power of its citizens. This is especially true for San Diego, where economists estimate that 1 of every 12 retail dollars spent in the county are from Mexican shoppers.
One of the most tangible steps that could be taken to promote even greater prosperity in the San Diego-Baja region would be the dramatic modernization of the San Diego-Tijuana border crossing facilities. With 58 million “northbound” border crossings each year, the San Diego-Tijuana border is the busiest in the world. Most people who’ve ever crossed at this border probably would agree it must also be one of the slowest.
Unfortunately, because governments by definition are monopolies, they often fail to innovate due to the lack of competitive pressures. When this failure to innovate and resistance to meeting demand is applied to our border crossings, the results are long waits and inadequate security.
The cost of this government-imposed bottleneck, when calculated in economic terms, is staggering: $348 million dollars per year in lost productivity (assuming each northbound crosser waits in line 30 minutes at an opportunity cost of $12 per hour).
San Diego would benefit enormously from a modern, 21st century border crossing system incorporating technology to fully take advantage of new electronic passports, a bold expansion of vehicle and pedestrian lanes across an expanded border complex, and state of the art screening technology for individuals, cars and trucks. The SENTRI lane programs needs to be further expanded and both Baja and San Diego leaders need to redouble efforts to move forward on a third border crossing to the East of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
Healthy business and cultural ties between San Diego and Baja California, combined with a dramatically more efficient border, will promote economic prosperity and job creation for the citizens of both countries.
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