September 2011 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 13.8 Percent from September 2010

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North American Surface Trade, October 2009 - September 2011

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American neighbors, Canada and Mexico, was 13.8 percent higher in September 2011 than in September 2010, totaling $77.7 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 value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico, the United States North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, in September 2011 rose 35.7 percent in two years from September 2009 and 8.3 percent in three years from September 2008 (Table 3).

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in September increased by 22.8 percent when compared to September 2006, and also increased by 83.0 percent when compared to September 2001, a period of 10 years. Imports in September were up 71.3 percent since September 2001, while exports were up 99.0 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 September, 85.6 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved via land, 9.8 percent moved by vessel, and 4.5 percent moved by air (Table 8).

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico decreased 3.3 percent in September 2011 from August 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 September 2010 with U.S.-Canada reaching $46.1 billion, a 14.7 percent increase, and U.S.-Mexico reaching $31.6 billion, a 12.5 percent increase. For trade numbers by mode, see Table 4 for Canada and Table 6 for Mexico.

In September trade by state, Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada as it has in previous years, at $6.0 billion, a 9.6 percent increase from September 2010 (Table 5). Texas also continued to lead all states in surface trade with Mexico at $11.1 billion, an 8.4 percent increase from September 2010 (Table 7). The value of surfacetrade between Connecticut and Mexico, mostly in precious metals and jewelry, showed an unusually large increase of 94 percent between September2010 and September2011, compared to the overall U.S. -Mexico increase of 12.5 percent..

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 October TransBorder numbers on Jan. 4, 2012.

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/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. September 2011 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/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 September 2011 Surface Trade Value

(millions of dollars)

Excel | CSV

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 September 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

September 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).