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February 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 16.3 Percent from February 2007

 (State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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Contact BTS 20-08 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, Canada and Mexico , was 16.3 percent higher in February 2008 than in February 2007, reaching $69.4 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 rose 6.5 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 58.3 percent compared to February 2003, and up 89.5 percent compared to February 1998, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in February were up 104.8 percent compared to February 1998, while exports were up 72.5 percent. 

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

 U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $45.0 billion in February, up 18.1 percent compared to February 2007 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 7.1 percent higher in February 2008 than February 2007, while the value of exports carried by truck was 10.2 percent higher.

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

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S.–Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $24.4 billion in February, up 13.3 percent compared to February 2007 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 10.0 percent higher in February 2008 than February 2007 while the value of exports carried by truck was 12.5 percent higher.  

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in February with $7.6 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.  February TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of April 10. 

The news release and summary tables can be found at www.bts.gov.  Additional information on TransBorder Freight Data as well as data from previous months is available on the BTS website at http://www.bts.gov/transborder/.  BTS will release March TransBorder numbers on May 29.

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

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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)

Excel | CSV

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.

Table 3. February 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with February of Prior Years

Excel | CSV

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)

Excel | CSV

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.

Table 5. Top 10 States Trading with Canada by Surface Modes of Transportation Ranked by February 2008 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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)

Excel | CSV

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

Table 7. Top 10 States Trading with Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation Ranked by February 2008 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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