Trump's trade war with China is about to get worse - these maps show which states could be most affected

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Trump's trade war with China is about to get worse - these maps show which states could be most affected

Trump Xi

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  • The costs of the US-China trade war have increasingly fallen on Americans, rippling through supply chains and putting pressure on prices across the country.
  • Tariff escalations that begin this weekend are expected to be felt in every region of the country.
  • But states highly exposed to trade with China are poised to be hit particularly hard.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump sought to win fairer trade policies for the US as he ignited a trade war with China last year. But the effects of his tariffs have increasingly fallen on Americans, rippling through supply chains and putting pressure on prices across the country.

The US plans to begin to extend those import taxes on Sunday to nearly all Chinese products, an escalation that would affect far more consumer products than ever before. The Trump administration this month appeared to admit the $300 billion worth of new tariffs could hurt businesses and consumers at home, delaying a portion of them until after the holiday shopping season.

A 15% tariff on nearly half of those products is still scheduled to take effect September 1, including clothing, food and thousands of other household items. The rest were delayed until December 15, temporarily shielding some electronics such as cellphones and laptops.

Trump also announced this month he would raise the tariff rate on the $250 billion worth of products already targeted to 30% from 25% in October. China has retaliated against the Trump administration by targeting thousands of American exports, particularly agricultural goods.

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Escalations in the yearlong dispute are expected to be felt in every region of the country. But states highly exposed to trade with China are poised to be hit particularly hard.

The Census Bureau publishes annual figures on international trade for each US state and DC, including the top 25 countries by total import and export value for each state.

According to their data from 2018, the most recent year available, four states exported a higher dollar value of goods to China than to any other country:

biggest export trade partner state map

Meanwhile, China was the top import trade partner for 24 states and the District of Columbia. Any escalation of trade tensions could have serious consequences for the economies of those states:

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biggest import trade partner by state 2018

Focusing just on China, nearly every state had millions or billions of dollars in trade in goods with that country last year.

Among states, exports to China ranged from $22 million in North Dakota to nearly $16.6 billion in Texas:

china exports state map

Most states had a higher value of imported goods from China than exported goods to China in 2018. Imported goods values ranged from $156 million in Montana to $161.2 billion in California:

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china imports state map

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