May Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 5.2 Percent from May 2006

(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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Contact BTS 36-07 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 5.2 percent higher in May 2007 than in May 2006, reaching $69.4 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 the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico rose 6.8 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.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in May was up 43.1 percent compared to May 2002, and up 94.5 percent compared to May 1997, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in May were up 100.6 percent compared to May 1997, while exports were up 87.2 percent. 

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

 U.S.-Canada surface transportation trade totaled $44.3 billion in May, up 3.2 percent compared to May 2006 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 2.2 percent lower in May 2007 than May 2006, while the value of exports carried by truck was 2.6 percent higher.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in May with $6.9 billion (Table 5).  

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S. - Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $25.1 billion in May, up 8.9 percent compared to May 2006 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 10.5 percent higher in May 2007 than May 2006 while the value of exports carried by truck was 2.9 percent higher.           

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in May with $7.8 billion (Table 7).  

The TransBorder Freight Data are a unique subset of official U.S. foreign trade statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau.  New data are tabulated monthly and historical data are not adjusted for inflation.  May TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of July 12. 

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 Aug. 30.

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

(millions of dollars)

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Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, 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 Freight Data, 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 Freight Data "Sources and Reliability" statement: http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/tbdr; Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Table 3. May 2007 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with May of Prior Years

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Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, 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 Freight Data, 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 Freight Data "Sources and Reliability" statement: http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/tbdr; Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Table 5. Top 10 States Trading with Canada by Surface Modes of Transportation

Ranked by May 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

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Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, 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 Freight Data, 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 Freight data "Sources and Reliability" statement: http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/tbdr; Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.  NA - not applicable

Table 7. Top 10 States Trading with Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation

Ranked by May 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

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Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/