"This is probably the strongest growing trade in the world right now," according to global freight rate intelligence platform Xeneta.

Xeneta analyst Peter Sand said China could be using Mexico as a way to skirt tariffs because some of the goods could be trucked into the US.

"With a sizable portion of these goods likely being trucked into the US, it gives rise to the possibility that China's increase in trade with Mexico is being used to circumvent tariffs placed on imports from China to the US as part of the ongoing trade war," Mr Sand said.

Xeneta's cargo volume data is backed up by recent reports from Mexico's naval ministry, which showed that the freight flows into the country's west coast ports surged in January.

Mexico's major ports handled 728,116 TEU in January 2023, a 20 per cent year-on-year increase for the country's 18 ports. The country's nine Pacific coast ports - which receive containers from China - handled the bulk of container movements in January, totalling 532,534 TEU for the month.

Mexico's two largest Pacific coast ports - Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas - reported record container movements for the month of January.

Trade between China and Mexico also expanded in 2023. The annual trade growth rate between the two countries in 2023 was 34.8 per cent, compared to 3.5 per cent in 2022, according to Mr Sand.

"This growth saw Mexico leapfrog China in Q1 2023 to become the No 1 trading partner for imports into the US measured by value," he said.

Last year, Mexico ranked as the top trade partner of the US, with Canada ranked No 2, followed by China at No 3. 

In 2023, Mexico's trade with the US rose 2.5 per cent to $798 billion, boosted by exports of gasoline and other fuels and imports of passenger vehicles.

Mr Sand noted that while China to the US west coast trade lane was nine times bigger than China to Mexico in January 2024, it was 11 times bigger compared to the same month in 2023.

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