U.S.-NAFTA trade is up for seventh straight month, reports BTS

United States trade with its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico headed up 9.4% annually to $98.2 billion in May, the most recent month for which data is available, according to the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

This represents the seventh consecutive month in which there has been an annual increase.

Trucks carried 63.4% of U.S.-NAFTA freight and continued to be the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both U.S.-NAFTA partners. Trucks accounted for $32.2 billion of the $53.5 billion of imports (60.2% and $30.1 billion of the $44.7 billion of exports (67.3%). Rail remained the second largest mode by value, moving 15.5% of all U.S.-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel, 6.4%; pipeline, 5.7%; and air, 3.7%. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 84.7% of the total value of U.S.-NAFTA freight flows.

BTS said that from May 2016 to May 2017, the value of U.S.-Canada freight flows increased by 11.4% to $51.2 billion as the value of freight on all five major modes increased annually. The value of freight carried on pipeline increased by 66%, vessel by 26%, and rail by 9.8%. Truck decreased by 2.8 percent, and air decreased by 7.2 percent.

And for the same period it said that the value of U.S.-Mexico freight flows headed up 7% to $47.0 billion as the value of freight on four major modes increased from a year earlier. The value of commodities moved by vessel increased by 29.5%, air by 7.0%, truck by 4.8%, and rail by 3.8%.