Commerce Department Report Shows 63 U.S. Metro Areas Set Goods Export Records in 2015

News from the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration

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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Commerce today released a new report that shows U.S. metropolitan areas exported more than $1.3 trillion in merchandise exports in 2015, accounting for 89 percent of all goods exported from the United States. The 2015 Metropolitan Area Export Overview states that 156 metro areas exported more than $1 billion of goods to consumers around the globe.

"In metropolitan areas from Abilene, Texas, to York, Pa., exports continue to be a source of growth for the local economy," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. "Exports from 119 metropolitan areas increased last year, leading to new records for places like Cincinnati, Las Vegas, and Sacramento. The Department of Commerce continues to focus its services on helping firms sell 'Made in America' products to global consumers, which will support additional growth and good-paying jobs."

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Top 50 Metropolitan Area Exporters Ranked by 2015 Export Value

The report includes the following highlights:

• The Houston-Woodland Hills-Sugarland metropolitan area was ranked No. 1 for the fourth consecutive year with total goods exports exceeding $97 billion.
• New York-Newark-Jersey City; Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim; and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin round out the top five metropolitan areas for goods exports.
• The Houston, New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles metro areas each exceeded $50 billion of goods exports in 2015 for a fourth consecutive year.
• El Paso, Texas, was the largest metro area to register double-digit export growth both in 2015 and from 2009-2015, shipping $24.6 billion in goods abroad in 2015. This represented a 22 percent increase from 2014, and a 217 percent increase from 2009.
• Houston was the largest metropolitan area exporter of goods to potential Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) markets with goods exports totaling $36.2 billion in 2015.
• There were 14 metro areas that exported more than $20 billion of goods in 2015.

Increasing exports has been a top priority of the Obama administration, and the Commerce Department has been a consistent partner in trying to keep businesses competitive by promoting the benefits of free trade agreements (FTAs). The agreements are a critical tool in helping U.S. exporters access the more than 95 percent of the world's consumers living outside the United States. Markets with FTAs in force accounted for more than half of total goods exports for 195 metropolitan areas.

Potential new trade agreement partners among the TPP markets were top destinations for 21 out of the top 50 metropolitan areas in 2015. TPP will level the playing field for American workers and U.S. businesses, by cutting more than 18,000 tariffs on Made-In-America products and instituting high standards in areas like labor and the environment that will make it easier for U.S. companies to sell their goods and services abroad.

For more information on the contributions of metro areas to U.S. exports, including fact sheets for the top 50 exporting metro areas, visit: http://www.trade.gov/mas/ian/metroreport.

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