Cross-Border Trade Up Again in May

Percent Change in Value of U.S.-Canada Freight Flows by Mode: May 2013 – May 2014.

WASHINGTON, DC — The value of cross-border trade between the U.S. and its North American trading partners, Canada and Mexico, was up 5.4 percent in May compared to last year.

U.S.-NAFTA trade totaled $103.9 billion in May 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In May, trucks carried 2.7 percent more freight between Canada and the U.S. compared to last year. Trucks carried 53.9 percent of the $57.7 billion of freight to and from Canada.

Overall, four of the five transportation modes – vessel, pipeline, rail, and trucks – carried more U.S.-NAFTA trade than in May 2013, whereas air freight declined.

Cross-border truck freight value rose by 3.8 percent. Trucks carried 59.9 percent of U.S.-NAFTA trade in May, accounting for $31.8 billion of exports and $30.4 billion of imports.

Rail remained the second largest mode, moving 15.2 percent of all U.S.-NAFTA trade. Commodities moving by pipeline grew in value by the most of any mode, 23.1 percent, reflecting a rise in the volume and prices for oil and other petroleum products. 

U.S.-NAFTA trade has increased year-over-year for four months in a row and in 10 of the last 11 months, interrupted by a 0.2-percent decrease in January. The January decline reflected the severe weather in the northern states and along the U.S.-Canada border.
 


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