Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Reached a Monthly Record High in March 2007

(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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Contact BTS 26-07 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Thursday, May 31, 2007 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 2.3 percent higher in March 2007 than in March 2006, reaching $69.8 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 the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico rose 16.9 percent in March from February (Table 2).  Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors. 

Trucks carried $49.1 billion of the March trade with Canada and Mexico (Table 2), the highest monthly number ever recorded.  Trade by truck with Canada in March was valued at $29.0 billion (Table 4) and trade by truck with Mexico was $20.1 billion (Table 6). 

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 March was up 53.0 percent compared to March 2002, and up 97.0 percent compared to March 1997, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in March were up 110.4 percent compared to March 1997, while exports were up 81.6 percent. 

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

 U.S.-Canada surface transportation trade totaled $45.1 billion in March, up 2.4 percent compared to March 2006 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 1.6 percent higher in March 2007 than March 2006, while the value of exports carried by truck was 0.4 percent higher.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in March with $7.5 billion (Table 5).  

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S. - Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $24.7 billion in March, up 2.1 percent compared to March 2006 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 8.4 percent higher in March 2007 than March 2006 while the value of exports carried by truck was 5.9 percent lower.           

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in March with $7.5 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.  March TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of May 22. 

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 April TransBorder numbers on June 28.

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

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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. March 2007 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with March of Prior Years

Excel | CSV

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 March 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 March 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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