BTS Releases North American Surface Trade Numbers for 2009

(CIFFA eBulletin)

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico decreased by 23.3% in 2009 compared to 2008, dropping to $637 billion. The 23.3% decline in trade was the largest year-to-year decline for the 15 years covered by these data. NAFTA went into effect in 1994.

BTS reported that the value of trade by surface transportation with Canada and Mexico decreased by 31.1% during the first six months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008. It decreased by 14.9% in the final six months of the year but increased by 10.5% in December compared to December 2008. U.S.-Canada surface transportation trade totalled $386 billion in 2009, a decrease of 28.1% compared to 2008. In 2009, 86.6% of U.S. merchandise trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved on land.