BTS Releases North American Surface Trade Numbers for August:

BTS 50-07
Contact: Dave Smallen, Tel.: (202) 366-5568

BTS Releases North American Surface Trade Numbers for August:
August Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 4.2 Percent from
August 2006
(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 4.2 percent higher in August 2007 than in August 2006, reaching $69.2 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Table 1).

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported that the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico rose 11.9 percent in August from July (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 August was up 48.0 percent compared to August 2002, and up 96.2 percent compared to August 1997, a period of 10 years (Table 3). Imports in August were up 109.4 percent compared to August 1997, while exports were up 81.1 percent.

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Canada

U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $43.1 billion in August, up 2.0 percent compared to August 2006 (Table 4). The value of imports carried by truck was 3.7 percent lower in August 2007 than August 2006, while the value of exports carried by truck was 3.8 percent higher.

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

U.S. Surface Transportation Trade with Mexico

U.S. – Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $26.1 billion in August, up 8.1 percent compared to August 2006 (Table 6). The value of imports carried by truck was 8.9 percent higher in August 2007 than August 2006 while the value of exports carried by truck was 2.5 percent higher.

Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in August with $8.0 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. August TransBorder numbers include data received by BTS as of Oct. 11.

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 September TransBorder numbers on Nov. 29.

Table 1. Value of Monthly U.S. Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico
(millions of dollars)
Month	2005	2006	2007	Percent Change 2005-2006	Percent Change 2006-2007
January	52,334	61,189	60,649	16.9	-0.9
February	53,592	59,804	59,667	11.6	-0.2
March	59,436	68,213	69,768	14.8	2.3
April	58,297	61,742	65,015	5.9	5.3
May	57,870	65,994	69,423	14.0	5.2
June	59,431	66,898	69,526	12.6	3.9
July	49,690	55,939	61,823	12.6	10.5
August	60,188	66,354	69,158	10.2	4.2
September	61,166	63,295		3.5
October	63,985	66,846		4.5
November	62,894	64,805		3.0
December	59,104	59,049		-0.1
Year-to-date	450,838	506,132	525,028	12.3	3.7
Annual	697,987	760,127		8.9

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

Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Table 2. U.S. Merchandise Trade with Canada and Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation
(millions of dollars)
Mode		August 2006	July 2007	August 2007	Percent Change July 2007 - August 2007	Percent Change August 2006-2007
All Surface Modes	Imports	37,736	35,138	39,356	12.0	4.3
	Exports	28,618	26,685	29,802	11.7	4.1
	Total	66,354	61,823	69,158	11.9	4.2

Truck	Imports	24,142	21,979	24,681	12.3	2.2
Truck	Exports	22,631	20,611	23,377	13.4	3.3

Rail	Imports	7,605	6,914	8,419	21.8	10.7
Rail	Exports	3,514	3,227	3,663	13.5	4.2

Pipeline	Imports	4,881	4,753	4,733	-0.4	-3.0
Pipeline	Exports	175	288	189	-34.2	8.0
Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/
Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding. The value of trade for all surface modes includes shipments made by truck, rail, pipeline, 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 3. August 2007 Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Compared with August of Prior Years
	Percent Change
Compared to August in…	Imports	Exports	Total Surface Trade
2006	4.3	4.1	4.2
2005	14.1	16.0	14.9
2004	26.0	33.4	29.1
2003	51.6	56.3	53.6
2002	47.1	49.1	48.0
2001	47.3	46.0	46.7
2000	39.6	34.8	37.5
1999	62.0	59.0	60.7
1998	100.0	85.0	93.3
1997	109.4	81.1	96.2
Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/

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

(millions of dollars)

Mode

August

2006

July

2007

August

2007

Percent Change July 2007 - August 2007

Percent Change August

2006-2007

All Surface Modes

Imports

23,924

22,118

24,029

8.6

0.4

Exports

18,299

16,986

19,049

12.1

4.1

Total

42,223

39,104

43,078

10.2

2.0

Truck

Imports

12,730

11,327

12,255

8.2

-3.7

Exports

14,269

12,867

14,809

15.1

3.8

Rail

Imports

5,438

4,836

5,801

19.9

6.7

Exports

2,041

1,824

2,019

10.7

-1.1

Pipeline

Imports

4,872

4,738

4,722

-0.4

-3.1

Exports

114

245

139

-43.3

21.5

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

Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding. The value of trade for all surface modes includes shipments made by truck, rail, pipeline, 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 5. Top 10 States Trading with Canada by Surface Modes of Transportation Ranked by August 2007 Surface Trade Value
(millions of dollars)
Rank	State	August 2007
1	Michigan	6,520
2	Illinois	3,241
3	Ohio	2,908
4	New York	2,850
5	California	2,846
6	Texas	2,233
7	Washington	1,744
8	Pennsylvania	1,498
9	Minnesota	1,390
10	Indiana	1,360
Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/

Table 7. Top 10 States Trading with Mexico by Surface Modes of Transportation Ranked by August 2007 Surface Trade Value
(millions of dollars)
Rank	State	August 2007
1	Texas	8,043
2	California	4,419
3	Michigan	3,100
4	Illinois	918
5	Arizona	764
6	Ohio	585
7	Tennessee	538
8	North Carolina	522
9	New York	501
10	Indiana	501
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)
Mode		August 2006	July 2007	August 2007	Percent Change July 2007 - August 2007	Percent Change August 2006-2007
All Surface Modes	Imports	13,812	13,020	15,326	17.7	11.0
	Exports	10,319	9,700	10,753	10.9	4.2
	Total	24,132	22,719	26,079	14.8	8.1

Truck	Imports	11,412	10,652	12,426	16.7	8.9
Truck	Exports	8,362	7,744	8,568	10.6	2.5

Rail	Imports	2,167	2,077	2,618	26.0	20.9
Rail	Exports	1,473	1,404	1,643	17.1	11.6

Pipeline	Imports	9	15	12	-21.9	28.1
Pipeline	Exports	61	43	51	17.1	-17.2
Source: BTS TransBorder Freight Data, http://www.bts.gov/transborder/
Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding. The value of trade for all surface modes includes shipments made by truck, rail, pipeline, 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.