NAFTA trade rises for second straight month in December

Total cross-border trade between the United States, Mexico and Canada ticked up 0.4 percent in December 2016, the third year-over-year increase in the past five months, according to the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

   The total value of cross-border trade between the United States and its partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which include Canada and Mexico, in December 2016 ticked up 0.4 percent to $87.1 billion compared with the same 2015 period, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
   BTS noted total NAFTA freight values have now grown in three of the last five months when compared with the prior-year period.
   For the full year in 2016, however, NAFTA freight flows fell 3.4 percent from 2015 to $1.069 trillion in current dollars, according to BTS figures.
   Three out of the five major transportation modes measured by BTS moved more freight by value in December, with pipeline trade jumping 30.9 percent, ocean vessel up 2 percent, and rail up 0.9 percent.
   The value of commodities moving by air and truck, on the other hand, fell 1.4 percent and 2 percent, respectively, compared with December 2015.
   Trucks continued to be the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both Canada and Mexico, accounting for 58.6 percent ($27.4 billion) of the $46.8 billion in U.S. imports from Canada and Mexico during the month and 65.6 percent ($26.4 billion) of the $40.3 billion in exports, BTS said.
   Rail remained the second largest mode by value, moving 15.2 percent of all U.S.-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel (6.5 percent), pipeline (6.1 percent) and air (4.2 percent).
   Year-over-year, the value of U.S.-Canada freight flows slipped 1.2 percent to $44.5 billion in December, while U.S.-Mexico trade values increased 2.1 percent to $42.6 billion.