NAFTA trade stems 19-month decline in August

The total value of cross-border freight between the United States and North American trading partners Canada and Mexico ticked up 0.7 percent in August 2016 following 19 straight year-over-year decreases, according to the Bureau of Transportation.

   The total value of cross-border trade between the United States and its partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which includes Canada and Mexico, finally showed some signs of life in August 2016 after 19 consecutive months of year-over-year declines.
   NAFTA freight value for the month ticked up 0.7 percent to $93.1 billion compared with August 2015 following a 10 percent drop in July, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
   BTS noted August was the first month since December 2014 in which total cross-border trade values increased compared with the same month the previous year.
   Of the five major transportation modes measured by the BTS, however, only airfreight and trucking carriers moved more freight by value in August. The value of commodities moving by air and truck increased 4.9 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.
   The value of cargo moving by all other modes dropped, with commodities moving by rail slipping 0.3 percent, pipeline falling 4.5 percent, and ocean vessel trade tumbling 12.5 percent from the previous year.
   Trucks continued to be the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both Canada and Mexico, accounting for 62.8 percent ($31.2 billion) of the $49.7 billion in U.S. imports from Canada and Mexico during the month and 68.3 percent ($29.6 billion) of the $43.4 billion in exports, BTS said.
   Rail remained the second largest mode by value, moving 15.3 percent of all U.S.-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel (5.8 percent), pipeline (5.1 percent) and air (3.7 percent).
   Year-over-year, the value of U.S.-Canada freight flows fell 1.4 percent to $47.3 billion in August, while U.S.-Mexico trade values increased 3 percent to $45.8 billion.
   BTS has previously attributed the long-term decline in the value of freight moved between the U.S. and both of its North American trading partners primarily to the precipitous drop in crude oil prices and volumes over the past 18 months.