U.S.-NAFTA trade is up 5.4 percent in May, reports BTS

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that U.S. trade with its North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico increased 5.4 percent from May 2013 to May 2014 at $103.9 billion.

BTS said that U.S.-NAFTA trade has been up for compared to the same month of the previous year for four straight months and in ten of the last 11 months, with the exception of a 0.2 percent January decline, which was due in large part to the harsh winter weather in the northeast U.S. and the U.S.-Canada border.

BTS said that commodities moving by pipeline increased by 23.1 percent, with vessel freight up 6.7 percent, and rail freight and truck freight up 6.2 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively. Air freight dropped 7.9 percent.

The top two modes percentage-wise in May were trucking at 59.9 percent for $31.8 billion of exports and $30.4 billion of imports, and rail at 15.2 percent of all U.S.-NAFTA trade. Vessel, pipeline, and air came in at 8.7 percent, 7.9 percent, and 3.4 percent, respectively.