August 2011 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 18.3 Percent from August 2010

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North American Surface Trade, September 2009-August 2011

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Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American neighbors, Canada and Mexico, was 18.3 percent higher in August 2011 than in August 2010, totaling $80.4 billion (Table 1), according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation. This was the second time on record that U.S.NAFTA trade by land modes exceeded $80 billion in one month the first time was in March 2011.

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico, the United States North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, in August 2011 rose 48.2 percent in two years from August 2009 and 11.3 percent in three years from August 2008 (Table 3).

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in August increased by 21.2 percent when compared to August 2006, and also increased by 70.6 percent when compared to August 2001, a period of 10 years. Imports in August were up 59.7 percent since August 2001, while exports were up 84.8 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 August, 86.0 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved via land, 9.6 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 increased 11.1 percent in August 2011 from July 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 August 2010 with U.S.-Canada reaching $47.5 billion, a 19.1 percent increase, and U.S.-Mexico reaching $32.9 billion, a 17.2 percent increase. For trade numbers by mode, see Table 4 for Canada and Table 6 for Mexico.

In August trade by state, Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada as it has in previous years, at $6.4 billion, a 19.3 percent increase from August 2010 (Table 5). Texas also continued to lead all states in surface trade with Mexico at $ 11.9 billion, a 16.7 percent increase from August 2010 (Table 7).

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/programs/international/transborder/. BTS will release September TransBorder numbers on Nov. 29.

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/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

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. August 2011 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/programs/international/transborder/

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

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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 August 2011 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

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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

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 August 2011 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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

August 2011 (Actual U.S. dollars)

Excel | CSV

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).