BTS Home > Press Releases > 2005

Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Reached a Monthly Record High in October 2005

PDF

Contact BTS 60-05 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Friday, December 30, 2005 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 12.5 percent higher in October 2005 than in October 2004, reaching $64 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 total North American surface transportation trade rose 4.6 percent in October from September (Table 2).  Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors.

The previous monthly high was $61.2 billion in September 2005. 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 October was up 34.3 percent compared to October 2001, and up 90.7 percent compared to October 1995, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in October were up 103.3 percent compared to October 1995, while exports were up 75.5 percent.

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

U.S. - Canada surface transportation trade reached a new monthly high of $42.1 billion in October, 15.3 percent higher than in October 2004 (Table 4).  The previous monthly high for U.S.-Canada trade was $40.4 billion in September 2005. The value of imports carried by truck was 11.3 percent higher in October 2005 than October 2004 while the value of exports carried by truck was 10.1 percent higher.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in October with $6.5 billion (Table 5). 

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S. - Mexico surface transportation trade reached a new monthly high of $21.9 billion in October, 7.4 percent higher than in October 2004 (Table 6).  The previous monthly high for U.S.-Mexico trade was $20.8 billion in August 2005. The value of imports carried by truck was 6.8 percent higher in October 2005 than October 2004 while the value of exports carried by truck was 7.6 percent higher.           

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in October with $7.2 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.  October transborder numbers include data received by BTS as of Dec. 14, 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 November transborder numbers on Jan. 31, 2006.

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: October 2005 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with October 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 October 2005 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 October 2005 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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