The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that U.S. trade with its North America Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and Mexico in December 2014 was up 5.4 percent annually at $95.8 billion. This marks the 11th straight month of annual increases, according to BTS officials.
BTS said that truck, rail, air, and pipeline volumes were each up annually, with the value of NAFTA trade by vessel down in December, due to the reduced price of mineral fuels.
The value of commodities moving by truck was up 9.3 percent annually in December, followed by rail at 8.3 percent, air by 6.3 percent, and pipeline at 4.0 percent. Vessel freight was down 22.6 percent compared to December 2013.
Along with posting the largest annual gain in terms of commodity value, BTS said that trucks also carried the most freight at 59.2 percent of total U.S.-NAFTA freight, while accounting for $28.4 billion of the recorded $52.5 billion of imports, or 54 percent, and $28.4 billion of the $43.3 billion of exports, or 65.6 percent.
U.S.-Canada freight in December was at $53.1 billion, with the value of U.S.-Canada freight flows by all modes up 4.7 percent. And U.S.-Mexico freight in December came in at $42.8 billion, with the value of U.S.-Mexico freight flows by all modes up 6.3 percent.