Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 12.3 Percent from August 2004 to Record High in August 2005

(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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Contact BTS 50-05 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Thursday, October 27, 2005 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico rose 12.3 percent in August 2005 from August 2004 to a total of $60.2 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 total North American surface transportation trade rose 21.1 percent in August from July (Table 2).  Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors.  Trucks carried 64 percent of imports and 80 percent of exports by value. 

The previous monthly high was $59.4 billion in March 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 August was up 28.8 percent compared to August 2002, and up 89.8 percent compared to August 1995, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in August were up 103.6 percent compared to August 1995, while exports were up 74.0 percent.

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

U.S. - Canada surface transportation trade totaled $39.4 billion in August, up 14.6 percent compared to August 2004 (Table 4).  Trucks carried 54 percent of imports and 80 percent of exports by value.  The value of imports carried by truck rose 9.2 percent in August 2005 from August 2004 while the value of exports rose 18.1 percent.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in August with $6.4 billion (Table 5).

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S. - Mexico surface transportation trade reached a new monthly high of $20.8 billion in August, up 8.2 percent compared to August 2004 (Table 6).  The previous monthly high for U.S.-Mexico trade was $20.4 billion in October 2004.  Trucks carried 84 percent of imports and 80 percent of exports by value.  The value of imports carried by truck rose 10.1 percent in August 2005 from August 2004 while the value of exports rose 5.7 percent. 

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in August with $6.9 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.  August transborder numbers include data received by BTS as of Oct. 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/programs/international/transborder/.  BTS will release September transborder numbers on Nov. 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/programs/international/transborder/

Table 2: U.S. Merchandise Trade with Canada and Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation

(millions of dollars)

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Source: BTS Transborder Surface Freight Dataset, http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/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/programs/international/transborder/srfin.html

Table 3: August 2005 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with August of Prior Years

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Source: BTS Transborder Surface Freight Dataset, http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/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/programs/international/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/programs/international/transborder/srfin.html

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

(millions of dollars)

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Source: BTS Transborder Surface Freight Dataset, http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/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/programs/international/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/programs/international/transborder/srfin.html

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

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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