September 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 7.5 Percent from September 2007

(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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Contact BTS 57-08 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Monday, December 1, 2008 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 7.5 percent higher in September 2008 than in September 2007, reaching $71.8 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 fell 0.6 percent in September from August (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 September was up 46.9 percent compared to September 2003, and up 82.8 percent compared to September 1998, a period of 10 years (Table 3). Imports in September were up 87.6 percent compared to September 1998, while exports were up 76.9 percent.

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

U.S.Canada surface transportation trade totaled $46.8 billion in September, up 9.7 percent compared to September 2007 (Table 4). The value of imports carried by truck was unchanged in September 2008 compared to September 2007, while the value of exports carried by truck was 2.6 percent higher.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in September with $5.9 billion (Table 5).

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S.Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $25.0 billion in September, up 3.8 percent compared to September 2007 (Table 6). The value of imports carried by truck was 0.7 percent lower in September 2008 than September 2007 while the value of exports carried by truck was 16.6 percent higher.

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in September with $8.2 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. September TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of Nov. 13.

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 October TransBorder numbers on Jan. 8, 2009.

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)

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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.

Pipeline export data are not currently available for March 2008.

Table 3. September 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with September 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)

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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. 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.

Pipeline export data are not currently available for March 2008.

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

Ranked by September 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 September 2008 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

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