America’s Highest Value International Exports, by State
The U.S. trade deficit hit nearly $1 trillion in 2022, as America imported some $948.1 billion more than it exported. This $103 billion increase on the previous year’s deficit came as the U.S. and its partners sought to restructure and redefine global supply chains following pandemic disruption and trade barriers with China — with whom the U.S. has a $382.9 billion trade deficit.
But the U.S. was still the world’s second-largest exporter. America exported some $2.1 trillion last year, accounting for 8.4% of global exports. U.S. agriculture exports alone accounted for $213 billion, a true American success story.
In a moment of rapid geo-political change, it pays to keep an eye on the comings and goings of American products — and to stay abreast of who the country’s best customers are. So, following our guide to Every State’s Top Import and Export, the ondeck team plunged into the latest data on product exports by state in 2022 from the U.S. International Trade Administration to identify the biggest export destinations for products from every U.S. state.
These maps reveal the country to which each state exports the highest value exports and then the states from which each country receives the highest value exports.
Some 34 states ship to Canada more than any other country, while six states have Mexico as their biggest customer. Looked at the other way around, 94 countries count Texas as their chief supplier in the U.S., followed by California (25) and Florida (24). In 2022, New York State was the largest source of U.S. imports for 13 countries, including Switzerland, Hong Kong and Israel.
Mexico overtook China as America’s top trade partner at the start of 2023, with $263 billion in bilateral trade between the countries between January and April. Texas’s exports to Mexico are the highest-value exports to a particular country from any state. In 2022, they equaled $144.29 billion. Some $33.63 billion of this is from Petroleum & Coal Products, the highest value product exported from any state to any one country (see Michigan’s Transportation Equipment Exports… below).
The shared border between Texas and Mexico is both a boon and an obstacle for this relationship. The trade supports upwards of seven million jobs in the region and accounts for around 80% of Texan auto parts exports; however, border delays reduced U.S. GDP by around $996.3 million and Texas GDP by around $470.3 million each day in 2022, according to Perryman Group estimates.
