BTS reports surface trade with NAFTA partners is up 12.7 percent for November 2011

The United States Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) said today that trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was up 12.7 percent on November 2011 compared to November 2010 at $76.7 billion.

BTS said that the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in November was up 18.3 percent compared to November 2006 and up 72.6 percent compared to November 2001, with imports up 64.3 percent and exports up 83.5 percent during that ten-year period.

Surface transportation, according to the BTS, is comprised mainly of freight movements by truck, trail, and pipeline, mail and Foreign Trade Zones, and nearly 90 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moves by land. According to the BTS 84.8 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved on land in November, with 10.8 percent moving by vessel, and 4.4 percent by air.

The BTS said the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in November was down 3.0 percent from October.

But it was up year-over-year in October.  U.S.-Canada surface transportation trade at $44.3 billion was up 12.2 percent. Michigan paced all states in surface trade with Canada in November at $5.7 billion for a 26.7 percent annual gain.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Mexico was up 13.3 percent year over year in November at $32.4 billion. Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in November at $11.2 billion, up 9.5 percent annually.