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May Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 8.9 Percent from May 2004

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Contact BTS 34-05 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Thursday, July 28, 2005 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico rose 8.9 percent in May 2005 from May 2004 to a total of $57.9 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 surface transportation trade fell 0.7 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 90 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moves on land.

Total surface transportation trade value in May was up 19.3 percent compared to May 2002, when North American surface trade reached its low point of any May since 2000, and up 79.2 percent compared to May 1995, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in May were up 91.5 percent compared to May 1995, while exports were up 65.6 percent (Table 3).   

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

U.S. - Canada surface transportation trade totaled $37.9 billion in May, up 9.8 percent compared to May 2004.  Trucks carried 59 percent of imports and 78 percent of exports by value.  The value of imports carried by truck rose 10.3 percent in May 2005 from May 2004 while the value of exports rose 11.1 percent (Table 4).

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in May with $6.0 billion (Table 5).

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S. - Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $20.0 billion in May, up 7.0 percent compared to May 2004.  Trucks carried 82 percent of imports and 80 percent of exports by value.  The value of imports carried by truck rose 9.1 percent in May 2005 from May 2004 while the value of exports rose 5.2 percent (Table 6).

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in May with $6.5 billion (Table 7).  

The Transborder Surface 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.  May transborder numbers include data received by BTS as of July 15, 2005. 

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 August 29.

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

(millions of dollars)

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

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

Table 3: May 2005 Surface Trade Compared with May of Prior Years

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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

Table 5: Top 10 States Trading with Canada by Surface Modes of Transportation, Ranked by May 2005 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

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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

Table 7: Top 10 States Trading with Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation, Ranked by May 2005 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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