BTS 20-08
Contact:  Dave Smallen, Tel.:  (202) 366-5568
Wednesday, April 30, 2008

BTS Releases North American Surface Trade Numbers for February 2008:
February 2008 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 16.3 Percent from February 2007
 (State Rankings in Tables 5 and 7) 

            Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, Canada and Mexico, was 16.3 percent higher in February 2008 than in February 2007, reaching $69.4 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 rose 6.5 percent in February from January (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 90 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 February was up 58.3 percent compared to February 2003, and up 89.5 percent compared to February 1998, a period of 10 years (Table 3).  Imports in February were up 104.8 percent compared to February 1998, while exports were up 72.5 percent.   

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada 

 U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $45.0 billion in February, up 18.1 percent compared to February 2007 (Table 4).  The value of imports carried by truck was 7.1 percent higher in February 2008 than February 2007, while the value of exports carried by truck was 10.2 percent higher. 

            Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in February with $6.5 billion (Table 5).  

 

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico 

U.S.–Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $24.4 billion in February, up 13.3 percent compared to February 2007 (Table 6).  The value of imports carried by truck was 10.0 percent higher in February 2008 than February 2007 while the value of exports carried by truck was 12.5 percent higher.    

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in February with $7.6 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.  February TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of April 10.   

The news release and summary tables can be found at www.bts.gov.  Additional information on TransBorder Freight Data as well as data from previous months is available on the BTS website at http://www.bts.gov/transborder/.  BTS will release March TransBorder numbers on May 29.

 

 

               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)
Mode		February 2007		January 2008		February 2008		Percent Change     Jan. 2008 – Feb.  2008		Percent Change February 2007-2008
All Surface Modes	Imports	33,978		36,648		39,533		7.9		16.3
	Exports	25,689		28,512		29,874		4.8		16.3
	Total	59,667		65,160		69,406		6.5		16.3
Truck	Imports	22,141		22,495		24,013		6.7		8.5
	Exports	20,290		21,887		22,522		2.9		11.0
Rail	Imports	6,696		6,630		7,524		13.5		12.4
	Exports	3,090		3,827		4,257		11.2		37.8
Pipeline	Imports	3,968		6,006		6,738		12.2		69.8
	Exports	285		418		354		-15.4		24.2
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.