Nafta Trade Declines in January, But Truck Freight Rises
U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico in January declined 1.2% to $89.2 billion from 2014, but freight carried by trucks increased 3.6% to $55.6 billion, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported March 31.
Trucks carried 62.3% of the trade among North American Free Trade Agreement partners, the most-heavily used mode of moving goods to and from Canada and Mexico.
The decline in January, the first since the same month last year, was due to the reduced price of mineral fuel shipments, according to BTS.
Trucks transported $28.2 billion of exports and $27.4 billion of imports between the Nafta partners.
U.S.-Canada trade for the month by truck increased 2.7%, and rail increased 1.8%. Trucks carried 55% of the $48.1 billion in freight to and from Canada. The top commodity transported between the U.S. and Canada by truck was vehicles (except for railcars).
Trade with Mexico by truck increased 4.4% from last year and accounted for 70.8% of the $41.2 billion of freight moved to and from the country. Trucks transported more electrical machinery, equipment and parts than any other commodity to and from Mexico.
Trade by pipeline dropped by 22.5% to $5.9 billion and ship trade declined 21.8% to $7 billion.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics