More than 30 states stretching from Florida to Alaska suffered double-digit drops in merchandise exports to China through September of this year.
Sales to the Asian nation fell 39% in Texas, where oil and gas products comprise the largest export to that country.
In Alabama, which touts its status as the No. 3 auto-exporting state in the U.S., total shipments to China plunged 49% in the first nine months.
Florida’s merchandise sales to the country slumped 40% in the period, while West Virginia and Wisconsin each saw drops of about 25%.
Product exports to China from the U.S. as a whole dropped 15% to $78.8 billion.
Washington state, home of Boeing’s industrial base, saw total Chinese merchandise exports fall 45% through the third quarter amid the grounding of the 737 Max, the company’s best-selling jet.
China has struck back in the trade war by imposing duties on about $135 billion of U.S. goods, targeting everything from farming products like soybeans and pork to motorcycles, cosmetics and wigs. With talks underway for a phase-one deal, Beijing has re-upped its demands for the removal of tariffs the U.S. has put on $360 billion of Chinese imports.
Exports to China support more than a million U.S. jobs, according to the U.S.-China Business Council, which represents American companies doing business in China.
Oregon’s total exports to China surged 65% in the nine months, according to the data. Only about a third of the state’s products are impacted by the proposed tariffs.
South Carolina’s sales to China jumped 30% through September, partly on airplane exports. Some Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner planes are made in the state and about 17% of those aircraft to date have been sold to China. The Chinese were set to buy 100 more Boeing wide-body jets, including the 787 and 777X, but the deal has stalled on trade uncertainties. ■
Governor Kathy Hochul announced the completion of an $18.6 million investment for three separate bridge replacement projects on the Thruway in Central New York.