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May 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 6.8 Percent from May 2007

(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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BTS 37-08
Dave Smallen
202-366-5568

Thursday, July 31, 2008 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 6.8 percent higher in May 2008 than in May 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 fell 0.3 percent in May from April (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 in May was up 51.9 percent compared to May 2003, and up 93.9 percent compared to May 1998, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in May were up 101.6 percent compared to May 1998, while exports were up 84.9 percent. 

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

 U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $48.9 billion in May, up 10.5 percent compared to May 2007 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 6.2 percent lower in May 2008 than May 2007, while the value of exports carried by truck was 10.0 percent higher.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in May with $5.9 billion (Table 5).  

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S.–Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $25.2 billion in May, up 0.2 percent compared to May 2007 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 0.9 percent higher in May 2008 than May 2007 while the value of exports carried by truck was 3.6 percent lower.           

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in May with $8.1 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.  May TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of July 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 June TransBorder numbers on Aug. 28.

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

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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   3.9  
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-May 316,942 324,521 353,798 2.4 9.0
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)

Excel | CSV

Mode   May2007 April2008 May2008 Percent Change Apr. 2008-May  2008 Percent Change May2007-2008
All Surface Modes Imports 38,917 42,226 41,374 -2.0 6.3
Exports 30,507 32,090 32,754 2.1 7.4
Total 69,423 74,317 74,128 -0.3 6.8
Truck Imports 25,207 24,859 24,498 -1.5 -2.8
Exports 23,483 24,482 24,701 0.9 5.2
Rail Imports 7,866 8,063 8,253 2.4 4.9
Exports 4,118 4,447 4,432 -0.3 7.6
Pipeline Imports 4,400 7,655 7,110 -7.1 61.6
Exports 499 600 634 5.7 27.1

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. May 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with May of Prior Years

Excel | CSV

Compared to May in… Percent Change
Imports Exports Total Surface Trade
2007 6.3 7.4 6.8
2006 11.0 14.0 12.3
2005 27.3 29.1 28.1
2004 37.0 42.7 39.5
2003 49.2 55.4 51.9
2002 50.1 56.3 52.8
2001 45.7 54.4 49.4
2000 50.8 51.6 51.1
1999 81.1 78.2 79.8
1998 101.6 84.9 93.9

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

Mode   May2007 April2008 May2008 Percent Change Apr. 2008-May 2008 Percent Change May2007-2008
All Surface Modes Imports 24,344 27,636 26,728 -3.3 9.8
Exports 19,941 21,222 22,211 4.7 11.4
Total 44,285 48,859 48,939 0.2 10.5
Truck Imports 13,290 12,858 12,471 -3.0 -6.2
Exports 15,135 16,185 16,649 2.9 10.0
Rail Imports 5,542 5,791 5,947 2.7 7.3
Exports 2,365 2,394 2,576 7.6 8.9
Pipeline Imports 4,386 7,640 7,096 -7.1 61.8
Exports 455 529 489 -7.7 7.4

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 May 2008 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

Rank State May 2008
1 Michigan 5,949
2 Illinois 4,615
3 New York 3,548
4 California 3,114
5 Ohio 3,093
6 Texas 2,712
7 Pennsylvania 1,935
8 Washington 1,823
9 Minnesota 1,822
10 Indiana 1,517

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

Mode   May2007 April2008 May2008 Percent Change Apr. 2008-May  2008 Percent Change May2007-2008
All Surface Modes Imports 14,572 14,590 14,646 0.4 0.5
Exports 10,566 10,868 10,542 -3.0 -0.2
Total 25,138 25,458 25,189 -1.1 0.2
Truck Imports 11,917 12,001 12,026 0.2 0.9
Exports 8,348 8,298 8,051 -3.0 -3.6
Rail Imports 2,325 2,272 2,306 1.5 -0.8
Exports 1,753 2,054 1,856 -9.6 5.9
Pipeline Imports 13 15 15 -4.4 8.5
Exports 44 71 146 105.7 228.8

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

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

Ranked by May 2008 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

Rank State May 2008
1  Texas 8,095
2  California 4,245
3  Michigan 2,532
4  Arizona 970
5  Illinois 961
6  Ohio 653
7  Tennessee 478
8  North Carolina 464
9  New York 458
10  Pennsylvania 426

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