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November 2011 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 12.7 Percent from November 2010

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North American Surface Trade, December 2009 - November 2011

Table Version | Excel | CSV

North American Surface Trade, December 2009 - November 2011

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American neighbors, Canada and Mexico, was 12.7 percent higher in November 2011 than in November 2010, totaling $76.7 billion (Table 1), according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the November 2011 value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico, the United States’ North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, rose 30.1 percent in two years from November 2009, and 26.4 percent from November 2008 (Table 3).

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in November increased by 18.3 percent when compared to November 2006, and also increased by 72.6 percent when compared to November 2001, a period of 10 years. Imports in November were up 64.3 percent since November 2001, while exports were up 83.5 percent (Table 3).  See Transborder Press Releases for historic data. Values in this press release are not adjusted for inflation.

Surface transportation includes freight movements by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, Foreign Trade Zones, and other. In November, 84.8 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved via land, 10.8 percent moved by vessel, and 4.4 percent moved by air (Table 8).

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico decreased 3.0 percent in November 2011 from October 2011 (Table 2). Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors.

U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico surface transportation trade both increased compared to November 2010 with U.S.-Canada reaching $44.3 billion, a 12.2 percent increase, and U.S.-Mexico reaching $32.4 billion, a 13.3 percent increase. For trade numbers by mode, see Table 4 for Canada and Table 6 for Mexico.

In November trade by state, Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada as it has in previous years, at $5.7 billion, a 26.7 percent increase from November 2010 (Table 5). Texas also continued to lead all states in surface trade with Mexico at $11.2 billion, a 9.5 percent increase from November 2010 (Table 7).

The news release and summary tables can be found at www.bts.gov. More information on TransBorder Freight Data, data from previous months, and individual state data are available online on the BTS website at http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/.  BTS will release December 2011 TransBorder numbers on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

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

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

Month 2009 2010 2011 Percent Change 2009-2010 Percent Change 2010-2011
January 47,459 56,697 67,734 19.5 19.5
February 47,938 59,492 66,534 24.1 11.8
March 51,055 69,943 80,822 37.0 15.6
April 49,729 65,831 73,767 32.4 12.1
May 47,881 66,805 77,318 39.5 15.7
June 50,753 69,859 77,521 37.6 11.0
July 51,545 61,260 72,363 18.8 18.1
August 54,254 67,964 80,406 25.3 18.3
September 57,294 68,324 77,725 19.3 13.8
October 61,400 70,565 79,040 14.9 12.0
November 58,922 68,060 76,672 15.5 12.7
December 58,465 66,530   13.8  
Year-to-date 578,231 724,800 829,902 25.3 14.5
Annual 636,695 791,329   24.3  

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

Note: Numbers might 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

Mode   November 2010 October 2011 November 2011 Percent Change October-November 2011 Percent Change November 2010-2011
All Surface Modes Imports 36,544 42,265 41,251 -2.4 12.9
Exports 31,516 36,775 35,421 -3.7 12.4
Total 68,060 79,040 76,672 -3.0 12.7
Truck Imports 23,761 26,746 26,311 -1.6 10.7
Exports 24,660 28,345 27,338 -3.6 10.9
Rail Imports 7,222 8,800 8,134 -7.6 12.6
Exports 3,912 5,035 4,838 -3.9 23.6
Pipeline Imports 4,413 5,363 5,581 4.1 26.5
Exports 482 740 714 -3.5 48.2

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

Notes: Numbers might 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, and other transportation.  For additional detail refer to the "Data Fields" Section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html

Table 3. November 2011 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with November of Prior Years

Excel | CSV

Compared to November in... Percent Change
Imports Exports Total Surface Trade
2010 12.9 12.4 12.7
2009 30.2 30.1 30.1
2008 25.7 27.2 26.4
2007 4.0 15.4 9.0
2006 12.1 26.5 18.3
2005 13.4 33.6 21.9
2004 28.9 46.8 36.6
2003 50.9 67.7 58.2
2002 57.4 76.1 65.5
2001 64.3 83.5 72.6

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

Table 4. U.S. Merchandise Trade with Canada by Surface Modes of Transportation

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

Mode   November 2010 October 2011 November 2011 Percent Change October-November 2011 Percent Change November 2010-2011
All Surface Modes Imports 20,461 24,187 23,336 -3.5 14.1
Exports 19,012 22,259 20,952 -5.9 10.2
Total 39,472 46,445 44,289 -4.6 12.2
Truck Imports 10,373 11,943 11,473 -3.9 10.6
Exports 14,667 16,949 15,993 -5.6 9.0
Rail Imports 4,893 5,846 5,445 -6.9 11.3
Exports 2,133 2,809 2,556 -9.0 19.8
Pipeline Imports 4,398 5,341 5,560 4.1 26.4
Exports 306 494 474 -4.1 54.6

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

Notes: Numbers might 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, and other transportation.  For additional detail refer to the "Data Fields" Section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html

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

Ranked by November 2011 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

State November 2010 November 2011 Percent Change November 2010-2011
Value Rank Value Rank
Michigan 4,536 1 5,748 1 26.7
Illinois 3,742 2 4,202 2 12.3
California 2,847 4 2,815 3 -1.1
Ohio 2,486 5 2,699 4 8.6
Texas 2,159 6 2,632 5 21.9
New York 2,868 3 2,300 6 -19.8
Pennsylvania 1,502 8 1,815 7 20.8
Washington 1,644 7 1,557 8 -5.3
Minnesota 1,187 10 1,509 9 27.1
Indiana 1,227 9 1,495 10 21.8

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

Notes: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding.  Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 6. U.S. Merchandise Trade with Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

Mode   November 2010 October 2011 November 2011 Percent Change October-November 2011 Percent Change November 2010-2011
All Surface Modes Imports 16,083 18,079 17,915 -0.9 11.4
Exports 12,504 14,516 14,469 -0.3 15.7
Total 28,587 32,595 32,384 -0.6 13.3
Truck Imports 13,389 14,803 14,839 0.2 10.8
Exports 9,993 11,396 11,344 -0.5 13.5
Rail Imports 2,328 2,955 2,689 -9.0 15.5
Exports 1,780 2,226 2,281 2.5 28.2
Pipeline Imports 15 23 21 -7.8 40.1
Exports 175 246 240 -2.5 37.0

Notes: Numbers might 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, and other transportation.  For additional detail refer to the "Data Fields" Section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/TBDR_DataFields.html

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

Ranked by November 2011 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

State November 2010 November 2011 Percent Change November 2010-2011
Value Rank Value Rank
Texas 10,271 1 11,247 1 9.5
California 4,399 2 5,157 2 17.2
Michigan 3,109 3 3,659 3 17.7
Illinois 908 4 1,061 4 16.8
Arizona 799 5 1,004 5 25.8
Ohio 780 6 804 6 3.1
Tennessee 572 7 686 7 19.8
Indiana 505 8 573 8 13.5
North Carolina 453 9 539 9 18.9
Pennsylvania 411 10 435 10 5.9

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

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding

Table 8. Percent of U.S. Trade by Value with Canada and Mexico by Major Modes

November 2011 (Actual U.S. dollars)

Excel | CSV

Mode Total Trade Value Percent
All Modes 90,400,969,872 100.0
All Land Modes 76,672,319,963 84.8
Air 3,978,241,322 4.4
Vessel 9,750,408,587 10.8

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

Note: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding. Percent changes are based on actual numbers prior to rounding (if applicable).




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