Surface trade figures up 1.5 percent in March, says BTS

Staff -- Logistics Management, 5/30/2008

WASHINGTON—Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was up 1.5 percent in March 2008 compared to March 2007 and reached $70.8 billion, according to data released by the United States Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

Surface transportation, according to the BTS, is comprised mainly of freight movements by truck, trail, and pipeline, and roughly 90 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moves by land. On a monthly basis, the BTS reported that the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico was up 2.0 percent March from February.

And the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in March was up 43.4 percent compared to March 2003, and up 73.5 percent compared to March 2008, noted the BTS. It added that March 2008 imports were up 85.9 percent compared to March 1998, and exports were up 59.6 percent.

In March, U.S.-Canada surface transportation trade—excluding U.S. pipeline exports to Canada which were unavailable at press time—came in at $47.2 billion. And the BTS said that the value of imports carried by truck was down 7.3 percent year over year, and the value of exports carried by truck was up 2.2 percent.

Transportation trade between the United States and Mexico came in at $23.6 billion in March, which was below March 2007 by 4.6 percent. Imports carried by truck were valued at 8.8 percent lower than March 2007, said the BTS, and the value of exports carried by truck was down 2.3 percent. And Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in December with $7.2 billion.