U.S. Freight Shipments with Canada and Mexico Reached a Record High in 2006
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BTS 54-07
Dave Smallen
202-366-5568 |
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Monday, November 19, 2007 - Goods valued at more than $866 billion crossed the
U.S. border in trade with Canada and Mexico in 2006, 9.7 percent higher
than the previous record set in 2005, according to the U.S. Department of
Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) (Table 1).
BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology
Administration, released the data today as part of the third annual update of
the North American Transportation Statistics (NATS) online database.
Freight
weighing nearly 475 million tons was transported through
U.S. land borders, airports, and seaports to and from locations
in Canada and Mexico in 2006.
U.S. merchandise trade with Canada and Mexico , its two largest trading partners, rose
by more than $252 billion or by 41.1 percent between 2001 and 2006 (See
Table).
This third annual update of the NATS database contains the most
comparable transportation-related data available from the
United States , Canada , and Mexico in a one-stop online
resource. The NATS database is
co-sponsored by BTS and the U.S. Census Bureau with the federal-level
transportation and statistical agencies of Canada and Mexico .
The value of freight shipments moving between the
United States , Canada and Mexico grew at an average rate of
nearly 7.1 percent per year between 2001 and 2006. The total value of U.S. freight shipments with Mexico grew 42.7 percent or 7.4
percent annually. Goods shipped in trade
with Canada grew 40.2 percent or 7.1
percent annually.
Trucks carried 62 percent of this freight measured by value - $534
billion in 2006. Rail carried 15 percent, followed by maritime with 8 percent,
pipeline with 7 percent, and air with 4 percent. Trucks saw the largest modal increase in
shipment value from 2005 to 2006 - $43 billion, followed by rail (up $12
billion), and maritime (up $12 billion).
New data in the NATS database shows America 's top
gateways for trade with Canada and Mexico . In 2006, Detroit
was the top road gateway with $115 billion in international road shipments passing
through that gateway (Table 2).
A product of the North American
Transportation Statistics Interchange established in 1991, the NATS database
provides three-country comparative information on transportation activity and
its impact. It covers the following subject areas: country overview,
transportation and the economy, transportation safety, transportation's impact
on energy and the environment, domestic freight activity, North American
merchandise trade, international merchandise trade, domestic passenger travel,
North American passenger travel, international passenger travel, transportation
infrastructure, and vehicles.
With text available in English, French, and Spanish, the NATS
database can be found at http://nats.sct.gob.mx/
Table 1.
U.S. Merchandise Trade with Canada and Mexico by Freight Transportation Mode
(Billions
of current dollars)
Excel | CSV
Total trade with Canada and Mexico |
614 |
604 |
629 |
712 |
790 |
866 |
41.1 |
7.1 |
Air |
37 |
30 |
28 |
32 |
33 |
36 |
-3.0 |
-0.6 |
Pipeline |
26 |
23 |
32 |
38 |
52 |
57 |
115.0 |
16.5 |
Rail |
93 |
92 |
96 |
108 |
116 |
129 |
39.1 |
6.8 |
Road |
395 |
398 |
404 |
453 |
491 |
534 |
35.0 |
6.2 |
Water
transport |
29 |
33 |
38 |
46 |
58 |
70 |
138.9 |
19.0 |
Total: percent change from previous year 2001-2006 |
-6.8 |
-1.4 |
4.2 |
13.1 |
10.9 |
9.7 |
- |
- |
Total trade with Canada |
381 |
371 |
394 |
445 |
499 |
534 |
40.2 |
7.0 |
Air |
25 |
21 |
20 |
23 |
23 |
24 |
-2.3 |
-0.5 |
Pipeline |
26 |
22 |
32 |
38 |
51 |
56 |
114.5 |
16.5 |
Rail |
60 |
61 |
65 |
75 |
80 |
86 |
42.5 |
7.3 |
Road |
235 |
236 |
241 |
269 |
295 |
314 |
33.8 |
6.0 |
Water transport |
9 |
9 |
11 |
14 |
18 |
21 |
129.7 |
18.1 |
Total: percent change from previous year 2001-2006 |
-7.3 |
-2.2 |
6 |
13 |
12.2 |
6.9 |
- |
- |
Total trade with Mexico |
233 |
232 |
236 |
267 |
290 |
322 |
42.7 |
7.4 |
Air |
12 |
9 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
-4.3 |
-0.9 |
Pipeline |
0.3 |
0.6 |
0.2 |
0.1 |
0.5 |
0.8 |
156.0 |
20.7 |
Rail |
32 |
31 |
31 |
34 |
37 |
43 |
32.9 |
5.9 |
Road |
161 |
162 |
163 |
184 |
196 |
219 |
36.6 |
6.4 |
Water
transport |
20 |
23 |
27 |
32 |
40 |
49 |
143.1 |
19.4 |
Total:
percent change from previous year, 2001-2006 |
-5.9 |
-0.2 |
1.4 |
13 |
8.9 |
14.5 |
- |
- |
NOTE: Individual modes do
not sum to total trade figures because the total excludes freight moved by
"other modes" such as aircraft from manufacturer to customers, pedestrians
carrying freight, and miscellaneous.
NOTE: Due to the rounding
of certain numbers tabulated, sum totals of U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico trade
vary slightly.
SOURCE: North American
Transportation Statistics Online Database. Available at http://nats.sct.gob.mx/nats, November 2007.
Table 2. Top 10 U.S. Gateways Trading with Canada and Mexico by Road
Ranked by 2006 Road
Trade Value
(millions of dollars)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Detroit, MI |
115,108 |
2 |
Laredo, TX |
78,502 |
3 |
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY |
58,855 |
4 |
El Paso, TX |
42,237 |
5 |
Port Huron, MI |
37,526 |
6 |
Otay Mesa, CA |
28,597 |
7 |
Hidalgo-Pharr, TX |
19,941 |
8 |
Champlain-Rouses Point, NY |
16,532 |
9 |
Pembina, ND |
13,674 |
10 |
Blaine, WA |
13,570 |
SOURCE: North American Transportation Statistics Online Database http://nats.sct.gob.mx/nats
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