GOOD NEWS: Cross border Truck Trade Value up 6%
North America’s land borders – Canada | USA | Mexico are the busiest, most economically vital conduits for supply chains, with approx. $3 billion in daily cross-border trade. In 2022, the value of total U.S.-international trade was $6.5 trillion, of which U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico accounted for $1.6 trillion or 24 percent. Freight consists of chemicals, vehicles, computer parts, and more support a range of industries from autos and energy to agriculture. The changes observed in trade across our northern and southern border since the coronavirus pandemic provide a glimpse into how economic sectors have changed.
Let’s review…Prior to the pandemic, in 2019, the U.S. had $1.2 trillion in trade with Canada and Mexico. The total weight of that trade was 579.4 million tons. Although freight traffic was not affected by pandemic-related border closures, overall economic activity slowed in 2020 following pandemic lockdowns in all three nations. From 2019 to 2020, the value of total trade with Canada and Mexico declined by 13.3 percent to $1 trillion. The weight of goods crossing the border decreased 3.7 percent to 557.7 million tons. In 2022, as the pandemic waned and economic activity recovered, the value of U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico hit $1.6 trillion, up 50 percent from 2020 and 25 percent from pre pandemic 2019.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said in June 2023, US$40 billion ($39.5 billion) of trade was transported by truck between Canada and the USA. Trucks moved $88.5 billion in cross-border freight between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico – up 6.1% over the same month last year. Good news from a slip in May 2023 of 2.3% compared to 2022. In 2022, U.S. freight flows with Canada and Mexico equaled $1.57 trillion dollars. The total weight of that trade was 654.0 million tons. Besides oil and energy products, autos, and electronics, the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are also each other’s largest trade partners of agricultural goods.
Cross Border Trucking Feight Value – June 2023 Overview:
- The busiest US-Canada land ports – representing (in goods)
- Detroit $10.8 billion
- Port Huron $7.2 billion
- Buffalo $6.8 billion
- The top commodities hauled by trucks between Canada and the U.S. were…
- computers and parts ($6.6 billion)
- vehicles and parts ($6.4 billion)
- electrical machinery ($2.6 billion)
The USA Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports, since 2020, truck freight has grown faster than rail freight for U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico combined. In 2022, trucks shipped $948.0 billion worth of goods from and to Canada and Mexico, while rail accounted for $210.2 billion. From 2021 to 2022, the value of truck freight increased 14.5 percent while rail increased 12.7 percent. Pipelines carried $149.2 billion of mostly energy products like oil and gas, while waterborne vessels transported $138.8 billion of freight and air cargo carried $57.8 million.
The Canada USA cross border trade relationship is one of the largest in the world with more than $3.4 billion in goods and services crossing the border each day in 2022. Canada-U.S. trade in goods and services was over $1.2 trillion and represented about two thirds of Canada’s total global trade.
