Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Reached a Monthly Record High in April 2008

(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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Contact BTS 32-08 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Monday, June 30, 2008 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 14.3 percent higher in April 2008 than in April 2007, reaching $74.3 billion, the highest monthly level ever recorded, 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 North American surface trade in April topped the previous monthly high of $74.2 billion in October 2007 by 0.1 percent.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico rose 5.0 percent in April from March (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 April was up 58.7 percent compared to April 2003, and up 91.8 percent compared to April 1998, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in April were up 106.0 percent compared to April 1998, while exports were up 75.8 percent. 

Data for exports to Canada by pipeline in March 2008 remained unavailable at the time of this release.

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

 U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $48.9 billion in April, up 15.4 percent compared to April 2007 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was about 1 percent higher in April 2008 than April 2007, while the value of exports carried by truck was 13.1 percent higher.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in April with $6.4 billion (Table 5).  

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S.–Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $25.5 billion in April, up 12.2 percent compared to April 2007 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 11.8 percent higher in April 2008 than April 2007 while the value of exports carried by truck was 10.9 percent higher.         

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in April 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.  April TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of June 10. 

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 May TransBorder numbers on July 31.

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. Canada pipeline export data are currently not available for March 2008.

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. Canada pipeline export data are currently not available for March 2008.

Table 3. April 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with April of Prior Years

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Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/ Canada pipeline export data are currently not available for March 2008.

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. Canada pipeline export data are currently not available for March 2008.

Table 5. Top 10 States Trading with Canada by Surface Modes of Transportation Ranked by April 2008 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

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Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/ Canada pipeline export data are currently not available for March 2008.

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 April 2008 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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