Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, Canada and Mexico, was 8.2 percent higher in April than in April 2011, totaling $79.8 billion, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Tuesday, June 26.
BTS, a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the April surface trade value rose 7.4 percent from April 2008, early in the recession, and increased by 60.4 percent from April 2009, late in the recession. The value decreased 7.0 percent in April from March; month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors such as weather.
U.S.-Canada trade reached $47.2 billion, a 5.6 percent increase from April 2011, and U.S.-Mexico trade reaching $32.6 billion, a 12.0 percent increase. Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada at $5.9 billion, a 1.5 percent increase from April 2011. Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico at $11.7 billion, a 15.9 percent increase.
Surface transportation includes freight movements by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, Foreign Trade Zones and other modes of transport. In April, 86.5 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved via land, 9.8 percent moved by vessel, and 3.7 percent moved by air.
