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US Exported & Imported Cars by State

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Pontiac Firebird (courtesy of Pixabay.com)
Pontiac Firebird
Based on United States Census Bureau’s foreign trade statistics, America’s 20 leading automobile-producing states generated US$43.9 billion worth of exported cars in 2018. That dollar amount contrasts with the $163.6 billion in foreign-made vehicles purchased from international sources by America’s top 19 car-importing states resulting in a -$119.8 billion product-specific trade deficit for the year.

The four leading export states for cars (South Carolina, Alabama, Michigan and California) accounted for 57.5% of cars exported from the top 20 American states.

The three leading import states for cars (California, Michigan and Texas) buy roughly two-thirds (66%) of US international cars brought into the top 19 import states.

Please note that the analysis below is focused on those states for which cars rank among each location’s top 25 exports or imports, respectively.

America’s Cars Exported & Imported by State

US Exported Cars

Below are the 20 US states for which cars ranked each location’s 25 most valuable export products. Within parenthesis is the percentage that each state represents compared to the 20-state subtotal.

  1. South Carolina: US$8.3 billion (19% of subtotal)
  2. Alabama: $6.4 billion (14.6%)
  3. Michigan: $5.8 billion (13.2%)
  4. California: $4.7 billion (10.7%)
  5. Ohio: $3.8 billion (8.6%)
  6. Tennessee: $2.6 billion (5.8%)
  7. Indiana: $2.3 billion (5.1%)
  8. Kentucky: $1.8 billion (4%)
  9. Georgia: $1.64 billion (3.7%)
  10. Texas: $1.639 billion (3.7%)
  11. Illinois: $1.5 billion (3.4%)
  12. New Jersey: $828.2 million (1.9%)
  13. New York: $576.7 million (1.3%)
  14. Delaware: $563.6 million (1.3%)
  15. Florida: $498.4 million (1.1%)
  16. Maryland: $428.3 million (1%)
  17. Mississippi: $295.4 million (0.7%)
  18. Minnesota: $237.4 million (0.5%)
  19. Kansas: $85.4 million (0.2%)
  20. Virgin Islands: $220,000 (001%)

Six among the above states grew their car sales on international markets from 2015 to 2018 namely Kansas (up 1,881%), California (up 158.7%), New Jersey (up 156.8%), Indiana (up 69.5%), Ohio (up 14.1%) and Michigan (up 12.6%).

Leading the decliners over the four-year period were Maryland (down -58.2%), the Virgin Islands (down -42.1%), Illinois (down -38.6%), Delaware (down -37.7%), Florida (down -32.1%) and Mississippi (down -32%).

Overall, the value of exported cars from these 20 US states in 2018 fell by an average -1.4% from $44.5 billion in 2015 to $43.9 billion during 2018.

US Imported Cars

Cars rank among the 25 costliest imported products for the following 19 US states during 2018. Within parenthesis is the percentage that each state purchases compared to the 19-state subtotal.

  1. California: US$47.1 billion (28.8% of subtotal)
  2. Michigan: $43.8 billion (26.8%)
  3. Texas: $17.1 billion (10.5%)
  4. Georgia: $10.9 billion (6.7%)
  5. Maryland: $10.7 billion (6.5%)
  6. Tennessee: $8.9 billion (5.4%)
  7. Rhode Island: $6.2 billion (3.8%)
  8. Washington: $3.9 billion (2.4%)
  9. Florida: $3.6 billion (2.2%)
  10. New Jersey: $3.2 billion (1.9%)
  11. Oregon: $2.5 billion (1.6%)
  12. Pennsylvania: $2.1 billion (1.3%)
  13. Puerto Rico: $934.9 million (0.6%)
  14. Louisiana: $810.6 million (0.5%)
  15. Massachusetts: $736.5 million (0.5%)
  16. Virginia: $613.1 million (0.4%)
  17. South Carolina: $303 million (0.2%)
  18. Hawaii: $233 million (0.1%)
  19. Montana: $17 million (0.01%)

Among the above US states, the greatest increases in purchases of cars from international markets since 2015 originated from: Louisiana (up 28,954%), Massachusetts (up 4,579%), Texas (up 296.3%), Tennessee (up 193.1%) and Puerto Rico (up 98.4%).

There were 7 decliners namely New Jersey (down -74.9%), Virginia (down -57.2%), Georgia (down -29.9%), California (down -19.6%), Montana (down -14%), South Carolina (down -10%) and Hawaii (down -3.7%).

The overall value of imported cars for these 19 US states in 2018 increased by 3.9% to $163.6 billion from $157.5 billion in 2015.



 

See also United States Top 10 Exports, United States Top 10 Imports, America’s Top 20 Export States and United States Top 10 Major Export Companies

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Imports – Commodities. Accessed on November 22, 2020

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on November 22, 2020

United States Census Bureau, Foreign Trade. Accessed on November 22, 2020