ARIZONA & MEXICO

Table 2: Traffic at United States Ports of Entry along the Mexican Border 2014
Number of Number of Loaded Truck Empty Truck Number of Loaded Rail Empty Rail
Port Individuals* Trucks Containers Containers Trains Containers Containers
San Luis 7,824,738 31,968 17,176 12,463 0 0 0
Lukeville 700,878 68 0 0 0 0 0
Sasabe 32,526 0 239 256 0 0 0
Nogales 9,856,050 312,010 256,074 58,334 795 42,802 32,963
Naco 605,764 3,601 3,496 3,112 0 0 0
Douglas 3,846,859 33,104 17,701 13,032 0 0 0
Arizona Total 22,866,815 380,751 294,686 87,197 795 42,802 32,963
U.S. TOTAL, All 25 Ports 173,261,680 5,414,568 3,779,344 1,534,439 10,413 473,866 436,127
Arizona Share (Percent) 13.2 7.0 7.8 5.7 7.6 9.0 7.6
Note: the ports are listed from west to east.
* The number of individuals is the sum of all modes of travel.
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau
of Transportation Statistics.
The number of trucks and trains crossing the U.S.-Mexico border increased from 1997 through 2014 by
an annual average rate of about 2 percent per year. However, the rate of increase of trucks slowed over
this time span; for example, the number of truck crossings rose 3.9 percent per year from 1997 through
2001 but only 1.5 percent per year from 2007 through 2014. The number of trucks crossing into Arizona
did not increase as much as for the border as a whole. While the rate of increase through the Nogales
port was close to the national total, truck traffic through each of Arizona’s other ports dropped. The
increase in rail traffic crossing the border into Arizona kept pace with the national total.
In contrast to the increases in commercial traffic, the number of individuals crossing from Mexico into
the United States fell in each year from 2000 through 2011. Tightening of U.S. border security
beginning in 2001 was a significant cause of the decline; weak economic conditions in the United States
and Mexico beginning in 2008 also reduced the number of people crossing. The total decrease from
1999 through 2011 was 48 percent (39 percent at Arizona’s ports). As the economy recovered in recent
years, the number of individuals crossing the border rose 13 percent between 2011 and 2014 (8 percent
at Arizona’s ports).
VALUE OF GOODS TRADED WITH MEXICO BY PORT
Geographically, the transborder freight data report the value of traded goods 5 in two ways:
1) By state of origin and destination. Import data by state are not reliable and export data by state
also may be inexact. 6 A very high share of goods that are manufactured, mined, or grown in
Arizona and that are exported to Mexico travel through Arizona’s ports.
2) By port. Import and export data by port are accurate. One-third of the value of goods traveling
through Arizona’s ports from the United States to Mexico did not originate in Arizona.
Generally, data on the value of trade are available for 2004 through 2014.
5
Data on the trade of services are available only for the nation.
6
For imports, the contents of a shipment commonly are destined to more than one state, in which case all of the shipment
value is assigned to the state with the greatest aggregate value. If the primary destination is unknown, then the shipment
may be assigned to the state of the final consignee or the state in which the shipment entered the United States. In some
cases, shipments are sent to a storage or distribution point, which may be recorded as the import state. The direction and
size of the error in the value of imports allocated by state varies by commodity. While the overall export data by state are
more accurate, when shipments are consolidated, which most often occurs for nonmanufactured goods, the state in which
the consolidation occurs is reported as the origin.
APRIL 2016 • ARIZONA TOWN HALL • ARIZONA & MEXICO • 32