CT&L’s Daily News for October 2nd reported July trade numbers published by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the US Department of Transportation, and it wasn’t all good news. The BTS report reflected the gloomy state of trade between the NAFTA partners this year, now decreasing for seven consecutive months.

According to the BTS, the reported value of Canada/US surface transportation trade for July fell just over 33% compared to a year earlier. One interesting note to the report however included mention that the state of Illinois replaced Michigan as Canada’s leading US trade partner that month. Which prompted me to wonder what we bought more of from Illinois than Michigan in July.

A quick review of the Canadian government’s international trade site revealed that Michigan’s leading exports to Canada in 2007 (the most recent data reported) were, not surprisingly, motor vehicle parts, automobiles and trucks. Michigan is, after all, the heartland of American automobile production. In 2007 in fact, 66% of Michigan’s total exports were transportation related products, followed by metals and energy products respectively.

So how did Illinois knock Michigan from the top spot? Was it a surge in Canadians’ appetite for Illinois corn, soybeans or ostriches? That’s right...ostriches! According to the Illinois Department of Agriculture there actually is a specialty market for ostriches in Illinois. I thought I was onto something here. Perhaps I would be the first to discover a burgeoning trade in ostrich feathers for the Canadian entertainment industry, or the wildlife safari business (can you ride an ostrich I wonder?) or (at worst) a growing underground market for ostrich burgers (even I have trouble with that one).

Presumably it was nothing so exotic, or (arguably) tasty. The automotive industry once again featured prominently in 2007 with Illinois exports to Canada of automobiles and motor vehicle parts, followed closely by machinery and metal products. Given the state of our North American economy I am somewhat heartened to think that our automobile industry may still be the backbone of Canada/US trade, whether from Michigan or Illinois.

(But I can’t help but wonder when the BTS will find out about those ostriches!)