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BTS 6-08
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Contact: Dave Smallen
Tel.: 202-366-5568

BTS Releases North American Surface Trade Numbers for November 2007:
Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 8.6 Percent from
November 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 8.6 percent higher in November 2007 than in November 2006, reaching $70.4 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 fell 5.2 percent in November from October (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 November was up 51.9 percent compared to November 2002, and up 91.3 percent compared to November 1997, a period of 10 years (Table 3). Imports in November were up 103.1 percent compared to November 1997, while exports were up 78.0 percent.

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $45.2 billion in November, up 11.5 percent compared to November 2006 (Table 4). The value of imports carried by truck was 4.9 percent higher in November 2007 than November 2006, while the value of exports carried by truck was 15.1 percent higher.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in November with $7.3 billion
(Table 5).

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S.–Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $25.1 billion in November, up 3.6 percent compared to November 2006 (Table 6). The value of imports carried by truck was 7.6 percent higher in November 2007 than November 2006 while the value of exports carried by truck was 1.6 percent lower.

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in November with $7.7 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. November TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of Jan. 11.

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 December TransBorder numbers on March 3.
 

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

69,423

14.0

5.2

June

59,431

66,898

69,526

12.6

3.9

July

49,690

55,939

61,823

12.6

10.5

August

60,188

66,354

69,158

    10.2

4.2

September

61,166

63,295

66,771

3.5

5.5

October

63,985

66,846

74,249

4.5

11.1

November

62,894

64,805

70,352

3.0

8.6

December

59,104

59,049

 

-0.1

 

11-month total

638,882

701,078

736,401

9.7

5.0

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

 

November

2006

October

2007

November

2007

Percent Change     Oct. 2007 – Nov. 2007

Percent Change November

2006-2007

All Surface Modes

Imports

36,794

 

41,974

 

39,660

 

-5.5

 

7.8

 

Exports

28,011

 

32,275

 

30,693

 

-4.9

 

9.6

 

Total

64,805

 

74,249

 

70,352

 

-5.2

 

8.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truck

Imports

23,817

 

27,065

 

25,293

 

-6.5

 

6.2

 

Exports

21,774

 

25,310

 

23,734

 

-6.2

 

9.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rail

Imports

7,653

 

8,199

 

8,210

 

0.1

 

7.3

 

Exports

3,686

 

4,169

 

4,278

 

2.6

 

16.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pipeline

Imports

4,184

 

5,130

 

4,684

 

-8.7

 

11.9

 

Exports

247

 

151

 

259

 

71.1

 

4.7

 

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

Note: Numbers may not add to totals due 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.

 

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

 

                              Percent Change                            

Compared to November in…

Imports

Exports

Total Surface Trade

2006

7.8

 

9.6

 

8.6

 

2005

9.0

 

15.8

 

11.9

 

2004

23.9

 

27.2

 

25.3

 

2003

45.1

 

45.4

 

45.2

 

2002

51.3

 

52.6

 

51.9

 

2001

58.0

 

59.0

 

58.4

 

2000

40.8

 

42.0

 

41.3

 

1999

56.5

 

49.6

 

53.4

 

1998

84.5

 

70.7

 

78.2

 

1997

103.1

 

78.0

 

91.3

 

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

 

 

--more--


 

 

 

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

(millions of dollars)

Mode

 

November

2006

October

2007

November

2007

Percent Change     Oct. 2007 – Nov. 2007

Percent Change November

2006-2007

 

All Surface Modes

Imports

22,828

 

26,309

 

24,798

 

-5.7

 

8.6

 

Exports

17,709

 

21,375

 

20,405

 

-4.5

 

15.2

 

Total

40,537

 

47,684

 

45,204

 

-5.2

 

11.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truck

Imports

12,479

 

14,206

 

13,090

 

-7.9

 

4.9

 

Exports

13,852

 

16,683

 

15,939

 

-4.5

 

15.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rail

Imports

5,288

 

5,698

 

5,898

 

3.5

 

11.5

 

Exports

1,937

 

2,368

 

2,341

 

-1.1

 

20.9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pipeline

Imports

4,176

 

5,117

 

4,668

 

-8.8

 

11.8

 

Exports

192

 

108

 

179

 

65.8

 

-6.4

 

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

 

Note: Numbers may not add to totals due 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.

 

 

 

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

Ranked by November 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Rank

State

November 2007

1

Michigan

7,286

 

2

Illinois

3,932

 

3

New York

2,992

 

4

California

2,938

 

5

Ohio

2,923

 

6

Texas

2,145

 

7

Washington

1,620

 

8

Pennsylvania

1,599

 

9

Indiana

1,445

 

10

Minnesota

1,346

 

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

 

November

2006

October

2007

November

2007

Percent Change     Oct. 2007 – Nov. 2007

Percent Change November

2006-2007

All Surface Modes

Imports

13,966

 

15,665

 

14,861

 

-5.1

 

6.4

 

Exports

10,302

 

10,901

 

10,287

 

-5.6

 

-0.1

 

Total

24,268

 

26,565

 

25,149

 

-5.3

 

3.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truck

Imports

11,338

 

12,859

 

12,203

 

-5.1

 

7.6

 

Exports

7,922

 

8,626

 

7,795

 

-9.6

 

-1.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rail

Imports

2,365

 

2,501

 

2,312

 

-7.6

 

-2.3

 

Exports

1,749

 

1,802

 

1,937

 

7.5

 

10.8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pipeline

Imports

8

 

13

 

16

 

28.7

 

104.6

 

Exports

56

 

43

 

80

 

84.1

 

43.3

 

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

Note: Numbers may not add to totals due 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

 

-END-

 

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

Ranked by November 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Rank

State

November 2007

1

Texas

7,681

 

2

California

4,640

 

3

Michigan

2,856

 

4

Illinois

871

 

5

Arizona

835

 

6

Ohio

644

 

7

Tennessee

542

 

8

North Carolina

497

 

9

Pennsylvania

443

 

10

Indiana

429

 

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



-end-


 


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