August Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 4.2 Percent from August 2006

(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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Contact BTS 50-07 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Wednesday, October 31, 2007 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 4.2 percent higher in August 2007 than in August 2006, reaching $69.2 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 11.9 percent in August from July (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 August was up 48.0 percent compared to August 2002, and up 96.2 percent compared to August 1997, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in August were up 109.4 percent compared to August 1997, while exports were up 81.1 percent. 

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

 U.S.-Canada surface transportation trade totaled $43.1 billion in August, up 2.0 percent compared to August 2006 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 3.7 percent lower in August 2007 than August 2006, while the value of exports carried by truck was 3.8 percent higher.

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

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S. - Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $26.1 billion in August, up 8.1 percent compared to August 2006 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 8.9 percent higher in August 2007 than August 2006 while the value of exports carried by truck was 2.5 percent higher.          

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in August with $8.0 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.  August TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of Oct. 11. 

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 September TransBorder numbers on Nov. 29.

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: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.  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 "Data Fields" Section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html.

Table 3. August 2007 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with August 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: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.  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 "Data Fields" Section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html.

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

Ranked by August 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.  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 "Data Fields" Section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html.

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

Ranked by August 2007 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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