Minnesota exports down 6% from this time last year
President Donald Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs mean international buyers are purchasing fewer Minnesota products.
First quarter exports are down 6% compared to the first quarter of 2024 — and the quarter ended before Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariff announcement, which raised the effective tax on imports to 27%, before courts intervened and Trump reversed or paused some of the taxes.
Minnesota exports have been hit harder than the country as a whole; nationally, exports were up 3% compared to this time last year.
Trump's tariffs have prompted retaliation from two of Minnesota's biggest trade partners: Canada and China, which imposed taxes on goods purchased from the U.S.
Mexico, Minnesota's second-biggest trade partner, has largely avoided major tariffs and has not retaliated with new import taxes of its own.
Exports from Minnesota to Mexico, however, have dropped 16%, as the country buys fewer Minnesota-produced vehicles, machines, food byproducts, cereals and iron. Exports to Canada, the state's biggest buyer, are down 3%.
'On-again, off-again tariffs issued unilaterally by the Trump Administration continue to cause significant uncertainty and concern for Minnesota companies in planning their business strategies, including importing and exporting,' DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek said in a press release.
The effects of tariffs and economic uncertainty are distributed unevenly across states and industries; in nearby Wisconsin, exports have increased 2% compared to the first quarter of 2024. North Dakota's exports are up 5%, while South Dakota's are down 11%.
In Minnesota, sellers of vehicles, food byproducts and air and spacecraft have suffered the biggest losses in international markets; for those industries, international sales have dropped by around one-quarter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration wants $1.2 billion tent city at Texas Army base, country's largest immigration detention center
Trump administration officials have awarded a $1.26 billion contract to build a sprawling tent camp to detain immigrants at an Army base in Texas. The 5,000-bed facility at Fort Bliss, once complete, will be the largest immigration detention facility in the country. The deal, awarded to Virginia-based contractor Acquisition Logistics Company, was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News. The contractor, which has previously done supply chain work for the military, does not appear to have past detention experience, according to a review of records by Bloomberg. The Army is paying $232 million worth of the contract, per the outlet. The deal comes after a previous $3.8 billion contract to build a tent camp at Fort Bliss was awarded, then retracted earlier this year. The contracted detention center adds to capacity in the area, where there is an existing Immigration and Customs Enforcement tent facility in use in northeast El Paso. Critics argue that tent-based detention camps suffer from poor conditions. Detainees say that at a Florida detention center dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, hastily constructed out of tents and trailers on a defunct air strip, they were given no water, maggot-infested food, and exposed to mosquitoes. Civil rights groups have sued over conditions at the facility, alleging detainees were denied due process and legal counsel. Since taking office, the Trump administration has embarked on a mass expansion of immigration-related spending. The White House's signature One Big, Beautiful Bill spending package includes an unprecedented $45 billion worth of detention-related funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has already used Fort Bliss as a hub for deportation flights. As of last week, more than 56,000 people were in immigration detention across the country, and the administration has said its further investments could increase bed capacity to 100,000. The military reportedly has plans to use bases in Indiana and New Jersey to further expand detention capabilities. With this spike in detention comes worsening conditions in immigrant detention centers, according to critics. Video from inside a New York City detention facility shows about two dozen people on a cement floor with nothing but emergency blankets near a partially exposed toilet 'Look how they have us like dogs in here,' the person filming the videos can be heard saying in Spanish. At least 14 people have died this fiscal year in immigration detention, outpacing past administrations. Outside of detaining immigrants, the Trump administration has made marked use of the military in other areas of immigration policy, including conducting deportation flights, sending Marines into the streets of Los Angeles to respond to anti-immigration raid protests, and creating new military border zones where troops can arrest border-crossers.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Japanese automaker shares jump after Trump trade deal
TOKYO (Reuters) -Shares of Japanese automakers surged on Wednesday, with Toyota gaining 11% and Honda advancing 9% after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had struck a trade deal with the Japan that includes a 15% tariff. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the deal would include $550 billion of Japanese investments in the United States. Trump did not specifically mention automakers in his tweet, but public broadcaster NHK said Japan and the United States had agreed to the 15% tariff on autos, from an earlier planned 25%. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US Olympic policy change bans transgender women in women's events
American transgender women will no longer be able to compete in women's events at the Olympics and Paralympics after a recent policy change by the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC). A new note on the USOPC website regarding the participation of transgender athletes in sports says: "As of July 21, 2025, please refer to the USOPC athlete safety policy." The policy update, following US President Donald Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order, was added to the USOPC Athlete Safety Policy on its website as a new subsection entitled "Additional Requirements." "The USOPC is committed to protecting opportunities for athletes participating in sport," the addition reads. "The USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities... to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 (Trump's order) and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act." The Stevens Act, adopted in 1988, provides a means of handling eligibility disputes for Olympic sports and other amateur events. A memo to Team USA from USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland and president Gene Sykes on Tuesday obtained by ABC News and ESPN made reference to Trump's February executive order, saying: "As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations." Trump's executive order threatens to remove federal funds from any school or institution allowing transgender girls to play on girls' teams, claiming that would violate Title IX rules giving US women equal sport opportunities. The order requires immediate enforcement against institutions that deny women single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms. "Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women," ESPN quoted the USOPC letter to governing bodies as saying. "All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment." ESPN also said the officials noted the USOPC "has engaged in a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials" in the wake of Trump's executive order. The move comes as Los Angeles awaits a host role for the 2028 Summer Olympics. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) also altered its policy for transgender athlete participation to limit women's sports competitors to athletes assigned female at birth after Trump's executive order. js/jgc
