Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico Rose 14.3% in 2011

Surface transportation trade between the U.S. and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, Canada and Mexico, in 2011 is valued at $904 billion, a 14.3% increase compared to 2010.

The 14.3% increase in trade was the third largest year-to-year increase for the years covered by these data, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The $904 billion in U.S.-NAFTA trade was the highest amount since NAFTA went into effect in 1994.

BTS reported that total North American surface transportation imports increased by 13.8% in 2011 from 2010, and exports increased by 14.8% during the same period.

U.S. land trade with Mexico declined less following the recession of 2008-2009 than did trade with Canada, and it rebounded faster. U.S.-Mexico land trade declined 14.4% from 2008, then increased by 46.3% in the next two years to reach a level in 2011 that was 25.3% higher than in 2008. U.S.-Canada land trade declined 28.1% from 2008 then increased by 39.2% in the next two years to reach a level in 2011 that was virtually unchanged from 2008. As a result, U.S.-Mexico accounted for 40.6% of North American surface freight in 2011, compared to 35.3% in 2008.

In 2011, 85.5% of U.S. merchandise trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved on land. Total North American surface transportation trade is up by 42% since 2009, when U.S.-NAFTA trade fell to a recent low during the recession. In 2009, U.S.-NAFTA trade dropped by 23.3% from the previous year.

U.S. - Canada surface transportation trade totaled $537.0 billion in 2011, an increase of 14% compared to 2010. U.S.-Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $367.1 billion in 2011, an increase of 14.6% compared to 2010.