18 July 2008

Trade slows at busiest U.S.-Canada bridge crossing

The following was reported on in the 17 July 2008 edition of “Journal of Commerce”.

Cross-border trade fell more than 10 percent in June at the busiest crossing between the United States and Canada.

The 78-year-old Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, saw 257,276 truck crossings in June, down 10.99 percent from 289,039 in the same month the previous year.

For the first six months of this year, there were 1,550,073 truck crossings, down 14.2 percent from 1,774,916 in the 2007 period, according to the Public Border Operators Association which counts crossings between Ontario and Michigan and New York.

The bridge hosts about two-thirds of the approximately $2 billion in daily trade between the U.S. and Canada, or about 30,000 trucks.

At the second busiest crossing, the Blue Water Bridge linking Port Huron, Mich., and Point Edward, Ont., June traffic increased 2 percent to 144,898 trucks from 141,958 a year ago. First-half traffic reached 822,050 trucks, up from 808,393 in 2007.

The third-ranking crossing, the Peace Bridge connecting Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ont., saw 112,855 truck crossings in June, up 2.6 percent from 109,997 in June 2007. Traffic through June fell slightly to 663,086 trucks from 665,716.

The data coincide with a Statistics Canada report this week showing Canada's May trade surplus with the U.S. at C$8.1 billion, nearly the same as in April. Exports to the U.S. rose for the fifth consecutive month despite the weak economy, to $31.3 billion from $30.5 billion in April -- their highest level since December, 2006. Imports total $23.2 billion, up from $22.5 billion in April.