A 13.3% decline
The value of goods traded on overland routes between the USA and its two neighbours fell to just over USD 1 trillion. All of the modes of transport assessed by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics were affected by the developments.
In March the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) revealed that measures to contain the outbreak Covid-19 had led to declining volumes in comparison with the same periods in the previous year in every month since the beginning of the pandemic – until a small plus of 0.4% kicked in in December. Almost two thirds of the total value (65.3%) was carried on lorries, with the railways following on 14%.
King of the Roads
The value of the goods traded by road between the USA and Canada amounts to USD 309 billion (58.8% of all goods that crossed the USA’s northern borders, compared to 56% in 2019). The key crossings were Detroit MI, which accounted for USD 95 billion, and Buffalo / Niagara Falls NY (USD 51 billion).
Laredo TX, in turn, accounted for more than both of these combined (USD 163 billion) and more than half of the US-Mexican total of USD 386 billion exchanged in lorries (71.1% of all goods that crossed the USA’s southern border, compared to 69.8% in 2019).
Computers, electronic equipment, cars
The value of goods shifted abroad by truck fell by around 10% both on the northern and southern borders; but seven US states managed to improve their roads’ external trade figure vis-à-vis 2019. Between them, computers and computer parts (USD 136 billion); electronic equipment and machinery (USD 110 billion); and cars and car parts (USD 89 billion); accounted for 48.3% of the value of cross-border lorry freight.
The top three types of goods transported across borders by rail are even more concentrated. Motor vehicles and parts (USD 69 billion), mineral fuels (USD 10 billion) and plastics (USD 8 billion) accounted for 58.9% of the total.
Railways lost more
Cross-border railfreight between the USA and Canada fell by 18.3% in 2020, coming to USD 79 billion (15% of the value of traffic on the USA’s northern borders). Rail transported goods worth USD 70 billion to and from Mexico (13% of traffic across the southern border), which was 15.3% less than in the previous year.
Two of the three key rail crossings for the exchange of goods between the USA and its neighbours are in Texas. As for trucks, Laredo leads the way here too, accounting for USD 37 billion, followed by Detroit (USD 23 billion) and by Eagle Pass (USD billion 22).
