Laredo, Detroit Register 70% Export-Import Gains, New Data Shows

First, the good news.

The nation’s top 20 airports, seaports and border crossings, accounted for a muscular 60% of the increase in U.S. trade between June and May, the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data available, even though they only account for 25% of all U.S. trade.

Even though trade fell 17.47% in June when compared to the previous June, it increased 11.86% from an abominable May, when trade fell almost 30%.

Big losses to big gains

The biggest gains were registered by those that took the biggest hits in May:

Laredo, traditionally the nation’s second-busiest trade gateway behind the Port of Los Angeles, saw its trade increase 76.50% from May, when it slipped to No. 7. In June, it advanced to rank fourth. A border crossing, more than 95% of its trade is with Mexico.

Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge, a border crossing with Canada at Windsor, Ontario, saw its trade increase an equally impressive 73.50%. It does more than 90% of its trade with Canada.

It traditionally ranks sixth or seventh among the nation’s more than 450 airports, seaports and border crossings. It ranked No. 11 in May and advanced to No. 6 in June.

Two other gateways also registered sharp gains, when compared to May.

Nearby Detroi’s Ambassador Bridge is Port Huron’s Blue Water Bridge, also in Michigan. It saw its trade grow at almost three times the national average, up 32.36%. It remained the nation’s No. 12-ranked gateway, slightly lower than is traditional for the border crossing with Canada.

Ysleta and an asterisk

And, finally, there is the Ysleta Bridge, better known as the Zaragoza Bridge, one of three bridges in the city of El Paso. This story comes with an asterisk.

Its trade grew 76.01% between June and May, when it ranked No. 27. In June, it made its first appearance in the top 20, at No. 17.

In April, it registered its first trade of any kind dating back to at least 2003. More than half of its trade is computer chip exports to Mexico and computer imports from Mexico.

It sits right across the border from Juarez, a tech hub that is home to a Dell manufacturing site and a host of other companies, including suppliers.

As the trade registered at Ysleta has skyrocketed — from zero to more than $5 billion in June, it has fallen precipitously at El Paso del Norte Bridge, traditionally the nation’s No. 15-ranked gateway and No. 40 in June.

Its trade, which routinely topped $6 billion monthly, totaled $1,43 billion in June.

In fact, in June, only three of the top 20 gateways registered a decline in trade, when compared to May:

• O’Hare International Airport, ranked second to only the Port of Los Angeles, down 2.93%
• JFK International Airport, ranked third, down 24.75%
• Anchorage International Airport, ranked No. 19, down 2.09%

The first two actually ranked first nationally for the first time this year, O’Hare in April behind increases in medical equipment and medicines tied to Covid-19 and JFK in May tied to gold imports tied to economic uncertainty.

And now the bad news

The rest of this story is, alas, bad news.

Looking at these same top 20 airports, seaports and border crossings, 18 have seen their trade fall when compared to the previous June and to June of 2018. In fact, going back five year, 15 of the top 20 are below their trade totals from that month of June.

The only two among the top 20 that have seen their trade increase when compared to June of 2019, June 2018 and June of 2015:

• O’Hare, up 4.97% from June 2019, 9.52% from June 2018 and up 32.72% from June 2015;
• JFK, up 21.12%, 13.98% and 7.87%.

Three more airports join the two airports when looking at June 2015:

• Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, ranked No. 15 in June 2020, up 25.49% from June 2015;
• Anchorage International Airport, ranked No. 19, up 0.65%;
• San Francisco International Airport, ranked No. 20, up 4.17%

You can find information about all the nation’s airports, seaports and border crossings here.