November 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Fell 13.8 Percent from November 2007

(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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Contact BTS 6-09 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Thursday, January 29, 2009 - The value of trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 13.8 percent lower in November 2008 than in November 2007, dropping to $60.7 billion, the biggest year-to-year decline in almost eight years, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Table 1). 

BTS reported that the 13.8 percent decline was the second largest from the same month of the previous year since North American surface freight data collection began in April 1994. NAFTA was implemented on Jan. 1, 1994.  Freight value declined 14.6 percent from December 2000 to December 2001 in the post-9/11 period.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico fell 16.5 percent in November from October (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 88 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 November was up 25.2 percent compared to November 2003, and up 53.6 percent compared to November 1998, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in November were up 52.6 percent compared to November 1998, while exports were up 54.9 percent. 

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

 U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $37.8 billion in November, down 16.4 percent compared to November 2007 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 24.3 percent lower in November 2008 compared to November 2007, while the value of exports carried by truck was 16.8 percent lower.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in November with $4.4 billion (Table 5).

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S.–Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $22.9 billion in November, down 9.0 percent compared to November 2007 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 19.6 percent lower in November 2008 than November 2007 while the value of exports carried by truck was 3.4 percent higher.     

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in November with $7.3 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.  November TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of Jan. 15. 

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 December TransBorder numbers on March 3.

Table 1. Value of Monthly U.S. Surface Transportation 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.  Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 2. U.S. Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico by Mode of Transportation

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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

Notes: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.   Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.  The value of trade for all surface modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail and pipeline modes, it also includes shipments made by 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. November 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with November 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: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.  Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.  The value of trade for all surface modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail and pipeline modes, it also includes shipments made by 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 November 2008 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: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.  Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.  The value of trade for all surface modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail and pipeline modes, it also includes shipments made by 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 November 2008 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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