Overhead view of container ship
Maritime Services
Sectoral analysis of U.S. trade and competitiveness in maritime services. 

Maritime Services Trade Data

Maritime Services Trade Data

U.S. International Trade in Goods by Transport Mode and Tonnage: 2018 (by percentage and in millions of tons)

Source: U.S. International Freight Trade by Transportation Mode, Bureau of Transportation Statistics*, U.S. Department of Transportation.

Transport ModeExportsImportsTonnage by ModePercentage of Total Tonnage by Mode
Maritime8687331,60170.93%
Truck12111423510.41%
Pipeline381722109.30%
Rail721091818.02%
Other/Unknown176220.97%
Air4590.40%
Total U.S. Trade Tonnage, All Modes1,1191,1392,257100%

U.S. International Trade in Goods by Transport Mode and Value: 2018 (in $ Billions)

Source: U.S. International Freight Trade by Transportation Mode, Bureau of Transportation Statistics*, U.S. Department of Transportation.

Transport ModeExportsImportsValue by ModePercentage of Total Value by Mode
Maritime5861,1761,76241.88%
Air4946651,15927.55%
Truck37040277218.35%
Other/Unknown1361252626.23%
Rail631161794.25%
Pipeline1658731.74%
Total U.S. Trade Value, All Modes1,6642,5434,207100%

 *Note: BTS data excludes U.S.-Canada-Mexico cross-border trade by value and tonnage.

Click here to view the original data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Top Ten U.S. Seaports by Cargo Tonnage Handled: 2018

Source: 2018 U.S. Port Rankings by Cargo Tonnage. American Association of Port Authorities: Statistics.  

PortTotal Tonnage
South Louisiana, LA275,512,500
Houston, TX268,930,047
New York/New Jersey140,281,992
Beaumont, TX100,244,231
Corpus Christi, TX93,468,323
New Orleans, LA93,332,543
Long Beach, CA86,536,154
Baton Rouge, LA82,234,811
Hampton Roads, VA71,774,349
Los Angeles, CA67,806,137

Top Ten U.S. Seaports by Twenty-Foot Container Equivalent Units (TEUs)* Handled

Source: North America Container Traffic 1980-2018. American Association of Port Authorities: Statistics.

PortTotal TEUs
Los Angeles, CA9,458,749
Long Beach, CA8,091,029
New York/New Jersey7,179,792
Savannah, GA4,351,976
Seattle/Tacoma, WA3,797,627
Hampton Roads, VA2,855,914
Houston, TX2,699,850
Oakland, CA2,546,357
Charleston, SC2,316,255
Jacksonville, FL1,270,480

*Note: TEUs are an industry-standard volume metric.

Top Ten U.S. Seaports by Cargo Value Handled (Import and Export Cargo Combined, in $)

Sources: International Cargo Value, 2018. USA Trade Online, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce.

Import Value Per Port, 2018. USA Trade Online, HS Port-Level Data by Imports.

Export Value Per Port, 2018. USA Trade Online, HS Port-Level Data by Exports.

PortTotal Value*
Los Angeles, CA296,619,884,718
New York/New Jersey206,505,862,676
Houston, TX158,306,135,487
Long Beach, CA108,996,007,771
Savannah, GA101,099,883,174
Seattle/Tacoma, WA77,450,330,848
Hampton Roads, VA73,498,282,001
Charleston, SC72,578,291,138
Baltimore, MD59,580,288,084
New Orleans, LA53,119,737,707

*Note: Total value is the combined total of maritime cargo import and export values per port in 2018. Additional note: Domestic maritime cargo value handled per port is not available.

Sources of the original data: 

Original data from the American Association of Port Authorities.

Original data from the USA Trade Online, U.S. Census Bureau. Please note that an account is required to access the full data from USA Trade Online.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

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