Top Trading Partners

Canada has been our number one trading partner for several decades, and Mexico became number two when it surpassed Japan in 1999. Canada and Mexico accounted for 31 percent of all U.S. goods trade in 2004, a decline of almost 1 percentage point from 2003 but up nearly 5 percentage points over 1990 (table 1). Canada accounted for about 19 percent of the value of all U.S. freight trade in 2004 while Mexico accounted for about 12 percent.

U.S. goods trade with Canada in 2004 was up 13 percent - with imports rising by 14 percent and exports by about 12 percent. U.S. goods trade with Mexico grew at a similar pace (13 percent) as imports increased by nearly 13 percent and exports by almost 14 percent. See appendix table A-1.