BTS says surface trade with NAFTA partners is up 8.2 percent in April

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 8.2 percent in April 2012 compared to April 2011 at $79.8 billion.

BTS said that the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in April was up 7.4 percent compared to April 2008 and up 60.4 percent from April 2009. And it was up 70.5 percent compared to April 2002. April imports were up 60.2 percent and exports were up 84.3 percent during the same 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 86.5 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved on land in April, with 9.8 percent moving by vessel, and 3.7 percent by air.

The BTS said the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in April was down 7.0 percent from March.

And the annual value in April was up year-over-year.

U.S.-Canada surface transportation trade at $47.2 billion was up 5.6 percent. Michigan paced all states in surface trade with Canada in April at $5.9 billion for a 1.5 percent annual gain.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Mexico was up 12.0 percent year over year in April at $32.6 billion. Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in April at $11.7 billion, up 15.9 percent annually.

The BTS recently reported that trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was up 14.3 percent in 2011 compared to 2010, increasing to $904 billion.