Awareness

*SOURCE: Population Reference Bureau
**SOURCE: World Bank, "Migration and Remittances Fact Book 2008"

National Borders:

Migration in the United States:

SOURCE: Migration Policy Institute

Trade and Competitiveness

SOURCE: Economist Intelligence Unit, June 2008 main Reports.

Poverty

SOURCE: CIA World Fact Book.

*Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) is a calculation that results in higher figures than found in many comparable economies; Canada does not have an official poverty line

Trade

         Trade in Goods in 2007:

     § U.S. and Canada: $562 billion (18% of total U.S. trade)

     § U.S. and Mexico: $347.3 billion (11% of total U.S. trade)

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau. Foreign Trade Statistics.

Canada is the United States’ largest trading partner, followed by Mexico. According to the Canadian Embassy, the trading relationship between the United States and Canada represents the largest bilateral flow of income, goods and services in the world.

SOURCE: Canadian Embassy in Washington. “Trade and Cooperation.”

Total Trade in value by partner countries (2007)

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and development. Total Trade in value by partner countries - Annual Volume 2008.

Percentage of Imports and Exports of Goods for North America (2006)

SOURCE: World Trade Organization. Statistics Database.(for trade profiles of selected economies; accessed June 25, 2008)

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA):

Date NAFTA came into effect: January 1, 1994
Date final provisions went into effect: January 1, 2008

Benefits to U.S. Agriculture:

  § U.S. farm and food exports to Mexico in 2001: $3.6 billion

  § U.S. farm and food exports to Mexico in 2006: $10.8 billion

  § Agricultural trade between the U.S. and Mexico in 1994: $7.3 billion

  § Agricultural trade between the U.S. and Mexico in 2006: $20.1 billion

  § U.S. farm and food exports to Canada in 1990: $4.2 billion

  § U.S. farm and food exports to Canada in 2006: $11.9 billion

SOURCE: USDA

TOP

Border Governance

Border crossings:

In 2006, there were over 228 million border entries into the U.S. over the southern border and over 67 million across the northern border.

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Border Crossing/Entry Database

There are 79 ports along the U.S.-Canadian border, and 25 ports along the U.S.- Mexican border. There are a total of 317 official land, air, and sea ports of entry in the United States and 14 pre-clearance stations in Canada and the Caribbean.

SOURCE: Migration Policy Institute, U.S.-Canada-Mexico Fact Sheet on Trade and Migration

Border Security:

Customs and Borders Protection (CBP) employed 15,000 border patrol agents in 2007. CBP had 46,700 employees total that year, including 18,400 CBP officers, and managed 326 ports of entry.

In 2007, CBP processed:

§ 1.13 million passengers and pedestrians, including 653,000 aliens

§ 70,200 truck, rail and sea containers

§ 251,000 incoming international air passengers

§ 74,100 passengers/crew arriving by ship

§ 304,000 incoming privately owned vehicles

§ 82,800 shipments of goods approved for entry

§ $88.3 million in fees, duties and tariffs

In 2007, CBP seized:

§ 2,250 pounds of narcotics in 69 seizures at ports of entry

§ 5,138 pounds of narcotics in 29 seizures between ports of entry

§ 187,176 in undeclared or illicit currency and $652,603 worth of fraudulent commercial merchandise at ports of entry

§ 41 vehicles between ports of entry

§ 4,296 prohibited meat or plant materials, including 164 agricultural pests at ports of entry

SOURCE: Customs and Border Protection, “A Day in the Life of CBP - Fiscal Year '07”

Transborder Environment

Oil production in barrels and worldwide rank
Canada: 3,047,000, 7th
United States: 6,830,000, 3rd
Mexico: 3,579,000, 5th

Oil consumption in barrels and worldwide rank
Canada: 2,241,000, 8th
United States: 20,655,000, 1st
Mexico: 1,978,000, 9th

Energy production in million ton of oil equivalent and worldwide rank
Canada: 397.5, 6th
United States: 1,641.0, 1st
Mexico: 253.9, 10th

Energy consumption in million ton of oil equivalent and worldwide rank
Canada: 269.0, 8th
United States: 2,325.9, 1st
Mexico: 165.5, 14th

Carbon dioxide emissions in tons in 2003, and worldwide rank
Canada: 565.5, 9th
United States: 4,816.2, 1st
Mexico: 415.9, 12th

To learn more about the transborder environment, visit these links:

1. Binational Water and Renewable Energy Institute:
The Arizona Water Institute (AWI) combines the expertise of Arizona's water managers with the resources of the three universities to support water resources management and technology development in real-world applications.

2. Border Environment Cooperation Commission:
The Border Environment Cooperation Commission works to preserve, protect, and enhance human health and the environment of the U.S. - Mexico border region, by strengthening cooperation among interested parties and supporting sustainable projects.

3. Commission for Environmental Cooperation:
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is an international organization created to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts, and to promote the effective enforcement of environmental law.

4. International Boundary and Water Commission:
The International Boundary and Water Commission provides binational solutions to issues that arise during the application of United States - Mexico treaties regarding boundary demarcation, national ownership of waters, sanitation, water quality, and flood control in the border region.

5. Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research and Policy:
The Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research and Policy, assists U.S.-Mexican border peoples and their environments by applying research information, insights, and innovations.

6. Border Eco-web:
The Border Eco-web is a directory of websites designed to facilitate public access to environmental information for the U.S.-Mexican border region. The Border EcoWeb inventory provides brief descriptions and links to various datasets available on the Internet, while the directory contains contact information and project descriptions for government agencies and other groups involved in activities dealing with the border environment.