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Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Reached a Monthly Record High in October 2007

(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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Contact BTS 1-08 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Monday, January 7, 2008 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 11.1 percent higher in October 2007 than in October 2006, reaching $74.2 billion, the highest monthly level ever recorded, 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 North American surface trade in October topped the previous monthly high of $69.8 billion in March 2007 by 6.4 percent.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico rose 11.2 percent in October from September (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 October was up 49.6 percent compared to October 2002, and up 87.1 percent compared to October 1997, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in October were up 100.7 percent compared to October 1997, while exports were up 72.0 percent.

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $47.7 billion in October, up 14.1 percent compared to October 2006 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 6.1 percent higher in October 2007 than October 2006, while the value of exports carried by truck was 17.8 percent higher.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in October with $7.6 billion (Table 5).

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S.–Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $26.6 billion in October, up 6.0 percent compared to October 2006 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 10.6 percent higher in October 2007 than October 2006 while the value of exports carried by truck was 3.1 percent higher.    

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in October with $8.2 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.  October TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of Dec. 13. 

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 November TransBorder numbers on Jan. 31.

Table 1. Value of Monthly U.S. Surface 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.

Table 2. U.S. Merchandise Trade with Canada and Mexico by Surface Modes 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.  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. October 2007 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with October of Prior Years

Excel | CSV

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)

Excel | CSV

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 October 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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)

Excel | CSV

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

Ranked by October 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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