U.S.-NAFTA freight value drops 6.4 percent, reports BTS

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) recently reported that that U.S. trade with its North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico saw a 6.4 percent annual decrease to $92.7 billion in June, coming on the heels of a 3.1 percent drop to $89.8 billion in May, and a 3.3 percent drop to $90.4 billion in April.

This marks the 18th straight month of declines for the total value of U.S.-NAFTA freight.

Air-transported commodities were up 5.0 percent, due in large part to a 35.6 percent increase in the value of imports of pearls, precious stones and metals, said BTS, with rail down 4.4 percent, truck down 5.8 percent, pipeline down 15.6 percent, and vessel down 19.7 percent, with crude oil price declines driving the decreases in the dollar value of products shipped by vessel and pipeline.

BTS said that trucks moved 65.4 percent of U.S.-NAFTA freight, representing $31.2 billion of the $49.2 billion in imports, or 63.5 percent, and $29.4 billion of the $43.5 billion in exports, or 67.5 percent. Rail was next at 15.2 percent of all U.S.-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel (6.0 percent), pipeline (4.5 percent), and air (4.0 percent).  Truck, rail, and pipeline accounted for 85.1 percent of total U.S.-NAFTA freight flows. 

From June 2015 to June 2016, the value of U.S.-Canada freight flows fell 7.2 percent to $48.2 billion as all modes of transportation except air carried a lower value of U.S.-Canada freight than a year earlier. And for the same period the value of U.S.-Mexico freight dropped 5.5 percent to $44.5 billion as all modes of transportation except air carried a lower value of U.S.-Mexico freight than a year earlier.