2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 4.1 Percent from 2007

(State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7)

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Contact BTS 14-09 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - Surface transportation trade between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 4.1 percent higher in 2008 than in 2007, reaching $830 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The 4.1 percent rate of growth was the smallest year-to-year growth rate since 2003 (Table 1).

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported that surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico grew 8.6 percent during the first six months of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007.  It declined 0.3 percent in the final six months and 9.4 percent in the October-to-December period compared to 2007. For 2008 data by month, see the BTS December North American Surface Freight press release at http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2009/bts010_09/html/bts010_09.html

Total North American surface transportation imports rose 2.7 percent in 2008 from 2007, and exports rose by 5.9 percent during the same period (Table 2).

In 2008, 86 percent of U.S. merchandise trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved on land. Total North American surface transportation trade value in 2008 was up 47.5 percent compared to 2003, and up 83.7 percent compared to 1998, a period of 10 years (Table 3).

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

U.S.Canada surface transportation trade totaled $537 billion in 2008, up 5.1 percent compared to 2007 (Table 4). The value of imports carried by truck was 6.0 percent lower in 2008 than 2007 while the value of exports carried by truck was 2.4 percent higher.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in 2008 with $67.0 billion (Table 5).

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S.Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $293 billion in 2008, up 2.3 percent compared to 2007 (Table 6). The value of imports carried by truck was 2.1 percent lower in 2008 than 2007 while the value of exports carried by truck was 7.8 percent higher.

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in 2008 with $94.1 billion (Table 7).

The TransBorder Freight Dataset is a special extract of the official U.S. foreign trade statistics. The data are obtained by BTS from the U.S. Census Bureaus Foreign Trade Division. TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of Feb. 11.

The news release and summary tables can be found at www.bts.gov. More information on transborder freight data is posted on the BTS website at http://www.bts.gov/transborder/.

Table 1. Annual Value of U.S. Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico and Percent Change from Previous Year

(millions of dollars)

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

Table 2. U.S. Merchandise Trade with Canada and Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation

(millions of dollars)

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

Note: The value of all surface modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail and pipeline modes. The value of trade for all surface modes includes shipments made by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, foreign trade zones and other transportation.  Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Table 3: Prior Year Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with 2008

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

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

(millions of dollars)

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

Note: The value of all surface modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail and pipeline modes. The value of trade for all surface modes includes shipments made by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, foreign trade zones and other transportation.  Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

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

(millions of dollars)

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

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

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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

Note: The value of all surface modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail and pipeline modes. The value of trade for all surface modes includes shipments made by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, foreign trade zones and other transportation.  Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Table 7. Top 10 States Trading with Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation in 2008, Ranked by Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

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