August 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 4.5 Percent from August 2007

(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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Contact BTS 52-08 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Thursday, October 30, 2008 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, Canada and Mexico , was 4.5 percent higher in August 2008 than in August 2007, reaching $72.3 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Table 1).

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico rose 0.9 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 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 August was up 60.5 percent compared to August 2003, and up 101.9 percent compared to August 1998, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in August were up 107.5 percent compared to August 1998, while exports were up 95.2 percent. 

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $46.8 billion in August, up 8.6 percent compared to August 2007 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 6.1 percent lower in August 2008 than August 2007, while the value of exports carried by truck was 1.0 percent higher.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in August with $5.8 billion (Table 5).  

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S.–Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $25.5 billion in August, down 2.4 percent compared to August 2007 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 8.2 percent lower in August 2008 than August 2007 while the value of exports carried by truck was 4.5 percent higher.          

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in August with $8.3 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.  August TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of Oct. 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 September TransBorder numbers on Dec. 1.

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

(millions of dollars)

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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)

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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. August 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with August of Prior Years

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

Table 4. U.S. Surface Trade with Canada by Mode 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 August 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. Surface Trade with Mexico by Mode 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 August 2008 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

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