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BTS 31-07
Contact:  Dave Smallen, Tel.:  (202) 366-5568
Thursday, June 28, 2007

BTS Releases North American Surface Trade Numbers for April:
April Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 5.3 Percent from April 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 was valued at $65.0 billion in April 2007, 5.3 percent higher than in April 2006 for the biggest percentage increase from the same month of the previous year since August 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 6.8 percent in April from March (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 April was up 38.9 percent compared to April 2002, and up 78.4 percent compared to April 1997, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in April were up 90.8 percent compared to April 1997, while exports were up 64.5 percent.   

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada 

 U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $42.3 billion in April, up 4.2 percent compared to April 2006 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 3.1 percent higher in April 2007 than April 2006, while the value of exports carried by truck was 4.8 percent higher. 

            Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in April with $6.7 billion (Table 5).    

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico 

U.S. – Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $22.7 billion in April, up 7.4 percent compared to April 2006 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 10.4 percent higher in April 2007 than April 2006 while the value of exports carried by truck was 3.6 percent higher.             

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in April with $6.9 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.  April TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of June 20.   

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 May TransBorder numbers on July 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

69,768

14.8

2.3

April

58,297

61,742

65,015

5.9

5.3

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

223,659

250,947

255,099

12.2

1.7

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

 

April

2006

March

2007

April

2007

Percent Change     Mar. 2007 - Apr. 2007

Percent Change April

2006-2007

All Surface Modes

Imports

35,126

 

39,912

 

36,912

 

-7.5

 

5.1

 

Exports

26,616

 

29,856

 

28,103

 

-5.9

 

5.6

 

Total

61,742

 

69,768

 

65,015

 

-6.8

 

5.3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truck

Imports

22,102

 

25,910

 

23,492

 

-9.3

 

6.3

 

Exports

20,871

 

23,191

 

21,790

 

-6.0

 

4.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rail

Imports

7,471

 

8,465

 

7,551

 

-10.8

 

1.1

 

Exports

3,255

 

4,018

 

3,775

 

-6.1

 

16.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pipeline

Imports

4,227

 

4,313

 

4,418

 

2.4

 

4.5

 

Exports

187

 

271

 

410

 

51.2

 

118.9

 

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/programs/international/transborder/tbdr; Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

                              Percent Change                            

Compared to April in…

Imports

Exports

Total Surface Trade

2006

5.1

 

5.6

 

5.3

 

2005

11.2

 

12.0

 

11.5

 

2004

21.4

 

23.3

 

22.2

 

2003

39.1

 

38.4

 

38.8

 

2002

37.9

 

40.3

 

38.9

 

2001

38.5

 

39.6

 

38.9

 

2000

42.5

 

34.0

 

38.7

 

1999

65.2

 

52.5

 

59.5

 

1998

80.0

 

54.0

 

67.8

 

1997

90.8

 

64.5

 

78.4

 

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

 

April

2006

March

2007

April

2007

Percent Change     Mar. 2007 - Apr. 2007

Percent Change April

2006-2007

All Surface Modes

Imports

23,097

 

25,187

 

23,776

 

-5.6

 

2.9

 

Exports

17,518

 

19,865

 

18,546

 

-6.6

 

5.9

 

Total

40,615

 

45,053

 

42,322

 

-6.1

 

4.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truck

Imports

12,379

 

13,737

 

12,761

 

-7.1

 

3.1

 

Exports

13,648

 

15,306

 

14,307

 

-6.5

 

4.8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rail

Imports

5,440

 

6,188

 

5,436

 

-12.2

 

-0.1

 

Exports

1,967

 

2,343

 

2,188

 

-6.6

 

11.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pipeline

Imports

4,225

 

4,282

 

4,408

 

2.9

 

4.3

 

Exports

120

 

222

 

361

 

62.8

 

200.6

 

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/programs/international/transborder/tbdr; Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

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

Ranked by April 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Rank

State

April 2007

1

Michigan

6,661

 

2

Illinois

2,942

 

3

New York

2,852

 

4

Ohio

2,722

 

5

California

2,601

 

6

Texas

2,045

 

7

Washington

1,757

 

8

Pennsylvania

1,569

 

9

Indiana

1,451

 

10

Tennessee

1,254

 

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

 

April

2006

March

2007

April

2007

Percent Change     Mar. 2007 - Apr. 2007

Percent Change

 April

2006-2007

All Surface Modes

Imports

12,029

 

14,724

 

13,136

 

-10.8

 

9.2

 

Exports

9,098

 

9,991

 

9,557

 

-4.3

 

5.0

 

Total

21,127

 

24,715

 

22,693

 

-8.2

 

7.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truck

Imports

9,722

 

12,173

 

10,730

 

-11.8

 

10.4

 

Exports

7,222

 

7,885

 

7,482

 

-5.1

 

3.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rail

Imports

2,031

 

2,277

 

2,115

 

-7.1

 

4.1

 

Exports

1,288

 

1,676

 

1,587

 

-5.3

 

23.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pipeline

Imports

2

 

31

 

10

 

-67.8

 

NA

 

Exports

67

 

49

 

49

 

-1.1

 

-27.5

 

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/programs/international/transborder/tbdr; Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.  NA – not applicable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Ranked by April 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Rank

State

April 2007

1

Texas

6,869

 

2

California

3,819

 

3

Michigan

2,471

 

4

Arizona

898

 

5

Illinois

766

 

6

Ohio

535

 

7

Tennessee

510

 

8

Pennsylvania

450

 

9

New York

433

 

10

Indiana

426

 

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

 


 

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