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February Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 11.6 Percent from February 2005

(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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Contact BTS 21-06 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Friday, April 28, 2006 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 11.6 percent higher in February 2006 than in February 2005, reaching $59.8 billion, 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 total North American surface transportation trade fell 2.3 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.

Total North American surface transportation trade value in February was up 33.4 percent compared to February 2001, and up 82.1 percent compared to February 1996, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in February were up 99.4 percent compared to February 1996, while exports were up 62.8 percent. 

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

U.S.-Canada surface transportation trade totaled $39.5 billion in February, up 11.6 percent compared to February 2005 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 3.0 percent higher in February 2006 than February 2005 while the value of exports carried by truck was 9.4 percent higher.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in February with $6.3 billion (Table 5).

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S. - Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $20.3 billion in February, up 11.5 percent compared to February 2005 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 10.7 percent higher in February 2006 than February 2005 while the value of exports carried by truck was 12.2 percent higher.

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in February with $6.6 billion (Table 7).

The Transborder Freight Dataset is a special extract of the official U.S. foreign trade statistics.  The data are tabulated for BTS monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division.  February transborder numbers include data received by BTS as of April 14. 

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 March transborder numbers on May 31.

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

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

Source: BTS Transborder Surface Freight Dataset, 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 Surface Freight Dataset, 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 Surface Freight data "Sources and Reliability" statement: http://www.bts.gov/ntda/tbscd/srfin.html; Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Table 3: February 2006 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with February of Prior Years

Excel | CSV

Source: BTS Transborder Surface Freight Dataset, 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 Surface Freight Dataset, 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 Surface Freight data "Sources and Reliability" statement: http://www.bts.gov/ntda/tbscd/srfin.html; Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Table 5: Top 10 States Trading with Canada by Surface Modes of Transportation, Ranked by February 2006 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

Source: BTS Transborder Surface Freight Dataset, 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 Surface Freight Dataset, 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 Surface Freight data "Sources and Reliability" statement: http://www.bts.gov/ntda/tbscd/srfin.html; Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Table 7: Top 10 States Trading with Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation, Ranked by February 2006 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

Source: BTS Transborder Surface Freight Dataset, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/