Businesses in Macomb County are within 500 miles of half the population of the United States and Canada, our country’s largest trading partner by far. Our exceptional location and efficient transportation system makes reaching many of the major Canadian and U.S. markets a breeze.

From any door in Macomb County, you are less than an hour’s driving time from the three international border crossings, Detroit-Metro Airport, Willow Run Airport, and several deep-water commercial ports.

Michigan and the Detroit Region are the nation’s principal gateway for international trade with Canada. In 2011, the state of Michigan ranked #2 in the nation for the number of trucks crossing the border annually.

Vehicular Border Crossings

Macomb is conveniently located between the Detroit and Port Huron crossing, both approximately 30 miles from the center of the county. These two international crossings (Detroit – the Ambassador Bridge and Port Huron - the Blue Water Bridge) rank as the top two commercial crossings on the US-Canada border. In 2011, there were more than 4 million truck crossings and 8.3 million passenger vehicle crossings.

Direct access to the Canadian cities of Windsor, Sarnia, Chatham, London, Hamilton, Fort Erie, Barrie, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City are provided via the Detroit and Port Huron gateways.

In 2010, $185 billion in trade came trough Michigan’s three ports of entry at Detroit and Port Huron.

Ports

Macomb County’s international flavor is further enhanced by the steady stream of ships passing by on the Detroit River, one of the busiest inland waterways in the world. The river carries more shipping traffic than any other river in North America and Detroit and Port Huron rank as two of the major U.S. ports. The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959 made Detroit an international port. Thre are approximately 1,500 trips into and out of the port of Detroit by both domestic and international vessels from China, Brazil and the Eastern European Baltic nations each year.

In 2010, the Port of Detroit was ranked as the 6th largest International Freight Gateway in the U.S. based on value of shipments. A total of $111 billion in goods passed trough the port, $63 billion were exports and $48 billion were imports. Port Huron ranked 10th with $74 billion in goods, $35 billion in exports and $39 billion in imports.

Rail

Michigan has an extensive rail system, ranking 12th in the number of miles of track along the 50 states with approximately 4,400 miles. Michigan has three rail international border crossings. The three rail crossings include a railroad bridge in Sault Ste. Marie and two tunnels, one in Port Huron and one in Detroit. Port Huron is the #1 rail port on the Canadian border with $26 billion in trade. Detroit is the #2 rail port with $22 billion in trade.