U.S. Freight Shipments with Canada and Mexico Reached a Record High in 2007

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Contact BTS 56-08 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - Goods valued at more than $909 billion crossed the U.S. border in trade with Canada and Mexico in 2007, 4.9 percent higher than the previous record set in 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) (Table 1).

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, released the data today as part of the third annual update of the North American Transportation Statistics (NATS) online database.

Freight weighing nearly 606 million tons was transported through U.S. land borders, airports, and seaports to and from locations in Canada and Mexico in 2007. 

U.S. merchandise trade with Canada and Mexico rose by more than $305 billion or by 50.6 percent between 2002 and 2007 (See Table 1). 

This fourth annual update of the NATS database contains the most comparable transportation-related data available from the United States , Canada , and Mexico in a one-stop online resource.  The NATS database is co-sponsored by BTS and the U.S. Census Bureau with the federal-level transportation and statistical agencies of Canada and Mexico .

The value of freight shipments moving between the United States , Canada and Mexico grew at an average annual rate of nearly 8.5 percent per year between 2002 and 2007.  The total value of U.S. freight shipments with Mexico grew 49.5 percent or 8.4 percent annually.  Goods shipped in trade with Canada grew 51.2 percent or 8.6 percent annually.

Trucks carried 61 percent of this freight measured by value - $555 billion in 2007. Rail carried 15 percent, followed by maritime with 7 percent, pipeline with 8 percent, and air with 4 percent.  Trucks was the largest modal increase in shipment value from 2006 to 2007 - $21 billion, followed by rail (up $9 billion), and pipeline (up $4 billion).

The NATS-OD figures show, among other things, the importance of the various modes of transportation involved in the movement of goods between Canada, Mexico and the U.S., and presents statistics indicating the relationships among transportation, international trade, economy, security, energy and the environment. Additionally, the NATS-OD incorporates technical and methodological footnotes in English, French and Spanish to provide users with interpretation and analysis.

A product of the North American Transportation Statistics Interchange established in 1991, the NATS database provides three-country comparative information on transportation activity and its impact. It covers the following subject areas: country overview, transportation and the economy, transportation safety, transportation's impact on energy and the environment, domestic freight activity, North American merchandise trade, international merchandise trade, domestic passenger travel, North American passenger travel, international passenger travel, transportation infrastructure, and vehicles.

With text available in English, French, and Spanish, the NATS database can be found at http://nats.sct.gob.mx/

Table 1 - U.S. Merchandise Trade with Canada and Mexico by Freight Transportation Mode

(Billions of current dollars)

Excel | CSV

NOTE: Individual modes do not sum to total trade figures because the total excludes freight moved by “other modes” such as aircraft from manufacturer to customers, pedestrians carrying freight, and miscellaneous.

NOTE: Due to the rounding of certain numbers tabulated, sum totals of U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico trade vary slightly.

SOURCE: North American Transportation Statistics Online Database, available at http://nats.sct.gob.mx/nats, November 2008.