North American Trade & Transportation News
Transborder Annual Release: 2001
U.S. Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Fell In 2001 for the First Time Since NAFTA Inception
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BTS 14-02
David Smallen
202-366-5568
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Thursday, June 20, 2002 -- The value of U.S. trade by truck, rail, and pipeline 1 with Canada and Mexico fell in 2001 for the first annual decline in the seven years since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (Figure 1).
U.S. surface trade with its two neighbors was down 4.9 percent for 2001 with most of the decline taking place after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (Figure 2). Compared to the same period in the previous year, the value of surface trade dropped 1.5 percent in the January-August period, while trade was down 11.6 percent in the September-December period.
The biggest decline took place in surface imports from Canada. They dropped 14.4 percent in the months following the terrorist attacks after being slightly up in the early part of the year.
The 2001 decline followed annual increases every year since NAFTA went into effect in 1994. Despite the decline, surface modes still carried $547.3 billion in U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico, or more than 89 percent of the total NAFTA trade. Air freight was 6 percent of the total while maritime was less than 5 percent.
More than 63 percent of the U.S. NAFTA surface trade is with Canada, and in 2001 the value of this trade dropped slightly more than that with Mexico.
Modal View
The steepest decline among the surface modes took place in truck trade, while rail trade fell more modestly and pipeline trade actually increased (Table 1).
Trucks moved nearly three-quarters of the total value of U.S. NAFTA surface trade in 2001, slightly less than trucking's 2000 share. In 2001, trucks moved more than two-thirds of the value of U.S. surface trade with Canada and four-fifths of the trade with Mexico. Rail, with 17 percent of NAFTA surface trade, rose 2.8 percent between the U.S.
and Mexico. Pipeline, with almost 5 percent, increased its share in 2001 and pipeline trade with Canada rose 12.2 percent in 2001 (Figure 3).
Spotlight on States and Ports
Surface trade value between Mexico and seven of its 10 largest U.S. state partners fell from 2000 to 2001 (Table 2a, b, c). The 22 percent drop in Arizona-Mexico trade was the largest percentage decline among the top 10 states.
Among Canada's top U.S. state partners, the biggest declines, of about 15 percent, were with Pennsylvania and New York. In contrast, surface trade with Washington rose more than 12 percent, Tennessee almost 6 percent, and California very slightly.
The biggest drop in surface trade value in 2001 took place at the largest NAFTA border ports. Trade at the top five ports - Detroit, MI, Port Huron, MI, Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY, Laredo, TX, and El Paso, TX - fell by more than the average decline for all ports (Table 3). Truck trade dropped at nine of the top 10 ports.
Commodity Breakdown
Eight of the top 10 commodities moved by surface modes between the United States and Canada and Mexico fell in the value that was traded in 2001 (Table 4). Only mineral fuels, mineral oils and waxes, and special classification provisions rose among the top 10 commodities. Large rises in U.S.-Canada surface trade in these two categories offset small decreases in U.S.-Mexico surface trade.
The commodity with the largest absolute drop in value of surface trade between the U.S. and Canada was in vehicles, parts, and accessories. For surface trade between the U.S. and Mexico the largest drop was in electrical machinery and equipment (Table 4).
More detailed information on data presented here can be found in the attached tables 1-5. To access the Transborder Surface Freight Database for additional monthly and yearly data, please visit the following link: http://www.bts.gov/transborder/. Other international transportation reports and datasets are available at: http://www.bts.gov/itt/
Endnote: Surface modes include truck, rail, pipeline, mail, and other. Trade involving the mode "other" includes aircraft or vessels moving under their own power where the vessel or aircraft itself is the shipment, powerhouse (electricity), pedestrians carrying freight, unknown and miscellaneous other. Except for the instances listed above, air and water modes are not considered surface modes and are not available at a disaggregated level.
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| Figure 1 - U.S. NAFTA Surface Trade: 1994 to 2001 |
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| Figure 2 - U.S. Monthly Surface Trade with NAFTA Partners: 2000 and 2001 |
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| Figure 3 - U.S. Surface Trade with NAFTA Partners by Mode: 2000 and 2001 |
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| Table 1 - U.S. Merchandise Trade with Canada and Mexico by Surface Modes: 2000 and 2001 |
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| Table 2 - North American Merchandise Trade by U.S. State by All Surface Modes: 2000 and 2001 |
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| Table 3 - Top 10 U.S. Land Ports for North American Merchandise Trade by Surface Modes: 2000 and 2001 |
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| Table 4 - Top 10 Commodities for North American Merchandise Trade by All Surface Modes: 2000 and 2001 |
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