BTS Releases North American Surface Trade Numbers for June:

BTS 42-08
Contact: Dave Smallen, Tel.: (202) 366-5568
Thursday, August 28, 2008

BTS Releases North American Surface Trade Numbers for June:
June Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 6.6 Percent from
June 2007
(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 6.6 percent higher in June 2008 than in June 2007, reaching $74.1 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Table 1).

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico rose 0.015 percent in June from May (Table 2). Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors.

Surface transportation consists largely of freight movements by truck, rail and pipeline. About 88 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moves on land.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico this June was up 56.3 percent compared to June 2003, and up 97.3 percent compared to June 1998, a period of 10 years (Table 3). Imports in June 2008 were up 106.4 percent compared to June 1998, while exports were up 86.8 percent.

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $48.9 billion in June, up 8.7 percent compared to June 2007 (Table 4). The value of imports carried by truck was 1.4 percent lower in June 2008 than June 2007, while the value of exports carried by truck was 8.2 percent higher.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in June 2008 with $6.5 billion (Table 5).

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S.–Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $25.2 billion this June, up 2.9 percent compared to June 2007 (Table 6). The value of imports carried by truck was 1.1 percent higher in June 2008 than June 2007 while the value of exports carried by truck was 7.4 percent higher.

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in June 2008 with $8.2 billion (Table 7).

The TransBorder Freight Data are a unique subset of official U.S. foreign trade statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau. New data are tabulated monthly and historical data are not adjusted for inflation. June TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of August 12.

The news release and summary tables can be found at www.bts.gov. More information on TransBorder Freight Data and data from previous months are posted on the BTS website at http://www.bts.gov/transborder/. BTS will release July TransBorder numbers on Sept. 30.

Table 1. Value of Monthly U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada and Mexico
(millions of dollars)
Month	2006	2007	2008	Percent Change 2006-2007	Percent Change 2007-2008
January	61,189	60,649	65,160	-0.9	7.4
February	59,804	59,667	69,406	-0.2	16.3
March	68,213	69,768	70,787	2.3	1.5
April	61,742	65,015	74,317	5.3	14.3
May	65,994	69,423	74,128	5.2	6.8
June	66,898	69,526	74,139	3.9	6.6
July	55,939	61,823		10.5
August	66,354	69,158		4.2
September	63,295	66,771		5.5
October	66,846	74,249		11.1
November	64,805	70,352		8.6
December	59,049	60,902		3.1
Jan-Jun	383,839	394,047	427,937	2.7	8.6
Annual	760,127	797,303		4.9

Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/

Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding. Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 2. U.S. Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico by Mode of Transportation
(millions of dollars)
Mode		June 2007	May 2008	June 2008	Percent Change May 2008 – June 2008	Percent Change June 2007-2008
All Surface Modes	Imports	39,561	41,374	41,749	0.9	5.5
	Exports	29,965	32,754	32,390	-1.1	8.1
	Total	69,526	74,128	74,139	0.0	6.6

Truck	Imports	24,497	24,498	24,441	-0.2	-0.2
Truck	Exports	23,017	24,701	24,838	0.6	7.9

Rail	Imports	8,402	8,253	8,242	-0.1	-1.9
Rail	Exports	3,640	4,432	4,559	2.9	25.2

Pipeline	Imports	5,246	7,110	7,601	6.9	44.9
Pipeline	Exports	617	634	494	-22.1	-19.9
Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/
Notes: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding. Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding. The value of trade for all surface modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail and pipeline modes, it also includes shipments made by mail, foreign trade zones, other and unknown modes of transportation. For additional detail refer to the “Data Fields” Section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html. Pipeline export data are not currently available for March 2008.

Table 3. June 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with June of Prior Years
	Percent Change
Compared to June in…	Imports	Exports	Total Surface Trade
2007	5.5	8.1	6.6
2006	10.0	11.8	10.8
2005	23.8	26.0	24.7
2004	28.6	41.1	33.8
2003	55.7	57.1	56.3
2002	60.8	60.5	60.6
2001	49.8	55.0	52.1
2000	47.4	45.2	46.4
1999	73.4	69.8	71.8
1998	106.4	86.8	97.3
Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/

Table 4. U.S. Surface Trade with Canada by Mode of Transportation

(millions of dollars)

Mode

June 2007

May 2008

June 2008

Percent Change May 2008 – June 2008

Percent Change June 2007-2008

All Surface Modes

Imports

25,072

26,728

27,338

2.3

9.0

Exports

19,925

22,211

21,561

-2.9

8.2

Total

44,997

48,939

48,899

-0.1

8.7

Truck

Imports

12,940

12,471

12,756

2.3

-1.4

Exports

15,195

16,649

16,437

-1.3

8.2

Rail

Imports

5,788

5,947

5,837

-1.8

0.9

Exports

2,095

2,576

2,711

5.3

29.4

Pipeline

Imports

5,233

7,096

7,587

6.9

45.0

Exports

554

489

420

-14.0

-24.1

Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/

Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding. Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding. The value of trade for all surface modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail and pipeline modes, it also includes shipments made by mail, foreign trade zones, other and unknown modes of transportation. For additional detail refer to the “Data Fields” Section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html.

Pipeline export data are not currently available for March 2008.

Table 5. Top 10 States Trading with Canada by Surface Modes of Transportation Ranked by June 2008 Surface Trade Value
(millions of dollars)
Rank	State	June 2008
1	Michigan	6,452
2	Illinois	4,907
3	New York	3,314
4	Ohio	3,061
5	California	2,902
6	Texas	2,614
7	Washington	2,077
8	Pennsylvania	1,870
9	Minnesota	1,757
10	Indiana	1,512
Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/

Table 7. Top 10 States Trading with Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation Ranked by June 2008 Surface Trade Value
(millions of dollars)
Rank	State	June 2008
1	Texas	8,160
2	California	4,166
3	Michigan	2,736
4	Illinois	959
5	Arizona	842
6	Ohio	688
7	Tennessee	486
8	Georgia	477
9	North Carolina	466
10	New York	448
Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/

Table 6. U.S. Surface Trade with Mexico by Mode of Transportation
(millions of dollars)
Mode		June 2007	May 2008	June 2008	Percent Change May 2008-June 2008	Percent Change June 2007-2008
All Surface Modes	Imports	14,489	14,646	14,411	-1.6	-0.5
	Exports	10,040	10,542	10,829	2.7	7.9
	Total	24,529	25,189	25,240	0.2	2.9

Truck	Imports	11,557	12,026	11,684	-2.8	1.1
Truck	Exports	7,822	8,051	8,401	4.3	7.4

Rail	Imports	2,614	2,306	2,405	4.3	-8.0
Rail	Exports	1,545	1,856	1,847	-0.5	19.6

Pipeline	Imports	13	15	15	1.4	9.1
Pipeline	Exports	63	146	74	-49.4	16.8
Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/
Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding. Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding. The value of trade for all surface modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail and pipeline modes, it also includes shipments made by mail, foreign trade zones, other and unknown modes of transportation. For additional detail refer to the “Data Fields” Section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html