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BTS 20-07
Contact:  Dave Smallen, Tel.:  (202) 366-5568
Tel.:  (202) 366-5568                                                                                

BTS Releases North American Surface Trade Numbers for February 2007:
February Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Fell 0.2 Percent from February 2006
 (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 in February 2007 amounted to $59.7 billion, 0.2 percent less than in February 2006, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Table 1).  

            BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported that the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico fell 1.6 percent in February from January (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 90 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 in February was up 43.0 percent compared to February 2002, and up 75.8 percent compared to February 1997, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in February were up 86.8 percent compared to February 1997, while exports were up 63.0 percent.   

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada 

 U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $38.1 billion in February, down 3.4 percent compared to February 2006 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 0.2 percent lower in February 2007 than February 2006, while the value of exports carried by truck was 4.1 percent higher. 

            Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in February with $5.8 billion (Table 5).     

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico 

U.S. – Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $21.5 billion in February, up 5.9 percent compared to February 2006 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 10.7 percent higher in February 2007 than February 2006 while the value of exports carried by truck was 0.5 percent lower.       

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in February with $6.5 billion (Table 7).    

The Transborder Freight Data are a special extract of the official U.S. foreign trade statistics.  The data are tabulated for BTS monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division.  February Transborder numbers include data received by BTS as of April 13.   

The news release and summary tables can be found at http://www.dot.gov/affairs/briefing.htm.  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 March Transborder numbers on May 31. 

Table 1. Value of Monthly U.S. Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico

(millions of dollars)

Month

2005

2006

2007

Percent Change      2005-2006

Percent Change      2006-2007

January

52,334

61,189

60,649

16.9

-0.9

February

53,592

59,804

59,667

11.6

-0.2

March

59,436

68,213

 

14.8

 

April

58,297

61,742

 

5.9

 

May

57,870

65,994

 

14.0

 

June

59,431

66,898

 

12.6

 

July

49,690

55,939

 

12.6

 

August

60,188

66,354

 

    10.2

 

September

61,166

63,295

 

3.5

 

October

63,985

66,846

 

4.5

 

November

62,894

64,805

 

3.0

 

December

59,104

59,049

 

-0.1

 

Year-to-date

105,926

120,993

120,316

14.2

-0.6

Annual

697,987

 760,127

 

 8.9

 

 

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

                     Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.


 

 

Table 2. U.S. Merchandise Trade with Canada and Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation

(millions of dollars)

Mode

 

February

2006

January

2007

February

2007

Percent Change     Jan. 2007 - Feb. 2007

Percent Change February

2006-2007

All Surface Modes

Imports

34,603

 

35,009

 

33,978

 

-2.9

 

-1.8

 

Exports

25,201

 

25,640

 

25,689

 

0.2

 

1.9

 

Total

59,804

 

60,649

 

59,667

 

-1.6

 

-0.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truck

Imports

21,156

 

22,308

 

22,141

 

-0.7

 

4.7

 

Exports

19,802

 

20,288

 

20,290

 

0.0

 

2.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rail

Imports

7,080

 

6,864

 

6,696

 

-2.4

 

-5.4

 

Exports

3,073

 

3,034

 

3,090

 

1.8

 

0.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pipeline

Imports

5,319

 

4,298

 

3,968

 

-7.7

 

-25.4

 

Exports

244

 

295

 

285

 

-3.4

 

16.6

 

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

Note: The value of all surface modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail and pipeline modes.  The value of trade for all surface modes includes shipments made by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, foreign trade zones, other and unknown modes of transportation.  For additional detail refer to the TransBorder Freight Data "Sources and Reliability" statement: http://www.bts.gov/ntda/tbscd/srfin.html; Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 3. February 2007 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with February of Prior Years

 

                              Percent Change                            

Compared to February in…

Imports

Exports

Total Surface Trade

2006

-1.8

 

1.9

 

-0.2

 

2005

10.2

 

12.9

 

11.3

 

2004

22.0

 

26.4

 

23.9

 

2003

33.6

 

39.5

 

36.1

 

2002

41.6

 

44.9

 

43.0

 

2001

34.0

 

31.9

 

33.1

 

2000

34.0

 

25.1

 

30.0

 

1999

58.6

 

49.8

 

54.7

 

1998

76.0

 

48.3

 

62.9

 

1997

86.8

 

63.0

 

75.8

 

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

 

 

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

(millions of dollars)

Mode

 

February

2006

January

2007

February

2007

Percent Change     Jan. 2007 - Feb. 2007

Percent Change February

2006-2007

All Surface Modes

Imports

23,167

 

22,660

 

21,275

 

-6.1

 

-8.2

 

Exports

16,295

 

16,065

 

16.841

 

4.8

 

3.3

 

Total

39,462

 

38,725

 

38,116

 

-1.6

 

-3.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truck

Imports

11,733

 

11,785

 

11,709

 

-0.6

 

-0.2

 

Exports

12,761

 

12,547

 

13,281

 

5.9

 

4.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rail

Imports

5,307

 

5,322

 

4,692

 

-11.8

 

-11.6

 

Exports

1,683

 

1,724

 

1,657

 

-3.9

 

-1.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pipeline

Imports

5,319

 

4,288

 

3,960

 

-7.6

 

-25.5

 

Exports

186

 

216

 

254

 

17.3

 

36.7

 

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

 

Note: The value of all surface modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail and pipeline modes.  The value of trade for all surface modes includes shipments made by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, foreign trade zones, other and unknown modes of transportation.  For additional detail refer to the TransBorder Freight Data "Sources and Reliability" statement: http://www.bts.gov/ntda/tbscd/srfin.html; Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Table 5. Top 10 States Trading with Canada by Surface Modes of Transportation

Ranked by February 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Rank

State

February 2007

1

Michigan

5,789

 

2

Illinois

2,687

 

3

Ohio

2,484

 

4

New York

2,451

 

5

California

2,348

 

6

Texas

1,880

 

7

Washington

1,477

 

8

Pennsylvania

1,353

 

9

Indiana

1,334

 

10

Tennessee

1,260

 

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

 

 

 

 

Table 6. U.S. Merchandise Trade with Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation

(millions of dollars)

Mode

 

February

2006

January

2007

February

2007

Percent Change     Jan. 2007 - Feb. 2007

Percent Change February

2006-2007

All Surface Modes

Imports

11,436

 

12,349

 

12,703

 

2.9

 

11.1

 

Exports

8,906

 

9,576

 

8,848

 

-7.6

 

-0.7

 

Total

20,342

 

21,924

 

21,551

 

-1.7

 

5.9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truck

Imports

9,423

 

10,523

 

10,432

 

-0.9

 

10.7

 

Exports

7,041

 

7,741

 

7,009

 

-9.5

 

-0.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rail

Imports

1,774

 

1,541

 

2,005

 

30.0

 

13.0

 

Exports

1,389

 

1,310

 

1,433

 

9.4

 

3.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pipeline

Imports

0

 

10

 

8

 

-21.1

 

NA

 

Exports

59

 

79

 

31

 

-60.1

 

-46.6

 

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

Note: The value of all surface modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail and pipeline modes.  The value of trade for all surface modes includes shipments made by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, foreign trade zones, other and unknown modes of transportation.  For additional detail refer to the TransBorder Freight data "Sources and Reliability" statement: http://www.bts.gov/ntda/tbscd/srfin.html; Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 7. Top 10 States Trading with Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation

Ranked by February 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Rank

State

February 2007

1

Texas

6,539

 

2

California

3,570

 

3

Michigan

2,147

 

4

Arizona

922

 

5

Illinois

800

 

6

Tennessee

561

 

7

Ohio

508

 

8

New York

434

 

9

Pennsylvania

408

 

10

Indiana

391

 

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


 

 

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Briefing Room