NAFTA trade stagnated in June

   The value of freight carried between the United Sates, Canada and Mexico by surface transportation modes in June dipped 1 percent from June 2012 to $77.6 billion.
   Overall, freight values moved by all modes between North American trading partners dipped 0.8 percent to $93.5 billion, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
   Truck is the predominant mode of freight transportation in the North American Free Trade Agreement zone, carrying 61 percent of all freight by value. Rail accounts for 15.8 percent of cross-border movements by value, followed by vessels at half that amount, pipelines and air.
   Trucks carried 56 percent of freight flows with Canada and 67 percent of trade with Mexico.
   On a month-to-month basis, freight flows between the United States and its NAFTA partners decreased 5.2 percent in June from May, with the value of freight moves by truck down 5.3 percent, the Transportation Department agency said.
   The top commodity category between the United States and Canada was vehicles. Michigan led all states in goods transported to and from Canada, at $6.5 billion, while Pennsylvania had the largest year-to-year increase among the top 10 states, at 18.5 percent. Texas continued to lead all states in goods transported to and from Mexico, at $15.7 billion.
   BTS charts and data showing various aspects of NAFTA trade flows are available here. – Eric Kulisch