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Iowa vs. Michigan: Which Industries Are Most Exposed to Export Declines?

By Freedom251 Team · · 10 min read

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Michigan carries the sharper overall export-concentration risk, while Iowa has the larger direct exposure to farm commodities. Transportation equipment made up about 43% of Michigan goods exports in 2024, and Canada absorbed 39% of the state’s goods exports in 2025. Iowa’s exports are spread across food, machinery, chemicals, agriculture and several manufactured-product categories, but a $13.5 billion agricultural export base makes farm income especially sensitive to commodity prices, disease, freight disruptions and foreign trade barriers.

The short answer

“Which state would get hit harder if exports fall?” depends on what causes the decline. A North American auto slowdown or tariff dispute would generally strike Michigan first and most intensely because vehicles, parts and related transportation equipment dominate its export profile and rely on tightly integrated cross-border supply chains. A blockade of agricultural markets, a collapse in crop or livestock prices, or a disease event would put Iowa’s farm economy and food processors under greater direct pressure.

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Exposure measure Iowa Michigan What it indicates
Largest 2025 export industry listed by USTR Food and kindred products: $3.5 billion Transportation-equipment manufacturing: $25.2 billion Michigan has a much larger single-sector concentration.
Other major 2025 industries Machinery except electrical: $3.3 billion; chemicals: $2.8 billion; transportation equipment: $969 million; computers/electronics: $678 million Chemicals: $5.5 billion; machinery: $5.1 billion; electrical equipment: $4.3 billion; computers/electronics: $2.7 billion Iowa is more diversified by sector; Michigan still has substantial non-auto manufacturing.
Important destination concentration Canada took $5.0 billion, or 30% of goods exports, in 2024 Canada took $23.2 billion, or 39% of goods exports, in 2025 Both depend heavily on Canada, with Michigan’s dollar and percentage exposure higher.
Agriculture and related products Domestic agricultural exports totaled $13.5 billion in 2023 Food, agricultural and forest-product exports totaled $2.9 billion in 2024 Iowa has the larger farm-export shock; Michigan’s agriculture is a smaller but still exposed cluster.
Overall export scale cited Not stated on the same basis in the cited figures $62 billion in goods exports in 2024 Do not combine the state totals with agricultural estimates that use different methods.

The practical ranking is therefore conditional: Michigan is more vulnerable to a concentrated manufacturing and Canada/Mexico shock; Iowa is more vulnerable to a broad agricultural trade shock. “Most exposed” describes the size, concentration and policy sensitivity of an export base. It does not mean either state is already experiencing a decline.

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How to judge export exposure

Export risk is not the same as export volume. Four tests give a more useful comparison:

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  1. Industry concentration: the larger the share held by one sector, the fewer alternatives exist when that sector loses orders.
  2. Destination concentration: dependence on one buyer, especially a neighboring country, can make a tariff or recession transmit quickly.
  3. Commodity and policy sensitivity: crops, meat and other commodities respond to prices, disease, weather, exchange rates and import restrictions; manufactured goods respond to tariffs, rules of origin and investment cycles.
  4. Supply-chain depth and customer substitution: a deep network can spread a shock to suppliers and workers, but scale and established relationships may also make it easier to redirect sales than for a small, specialized producer.

The figures in the comparison table establish export size and concentration, not a forecast of future declines. To measure an actual fall, use a consistent state, industry, partner-country and origin-of-movement series, then compare the same months or years.

Why Michigan has the sharper concentration risk

Transportation equipment is the dominant exposure

Michigan’s 2024 goods exports totaled $62 billion, and transportation equipment represented about 43%, or approximately $27 billion, according to figures reported by MichAuto/SEMCOG and the International Trade Administration. Vehicles and vehicle parts together accounted for more than $25 billion in that 2024 reporting. This concentration means a decline in North American vehicle production, consumer demand or parts orders can affect assemblers, parts makers, logistics firms, tooling companies and specialized service providers at the same time.

USTR’s 2025 industry figures provide a similar picture from a different statistical series: transportation-equipment manufacturing exports were $25.2 billion. The series is not interchangeable with the 2024 total, but both identify transportation equipment as the state’s clear primary export risk.

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Canada is a large, concentrated market

Michigan exported $23.2 billion in goods to Canada in 2025, equal to 39% of its goods exports. The two countries’ proximity supports frequent two-way movement of vehicles, engines, parts and production inputs. That integration lowers delivery time and supports just-in-time manufacturing, yet it also lets a tariff, border delay or Canadian demand slowdown move through factories quickly.

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Mexico adds another layer because many Michigan auto supply chains are linked to Mexican assembly and component production. A North American policy change can therefore affect several stages of a product before the finished vehicle reaches a customer. Exposure is not limited to the value recorded at the final border crossing.

Secondary manufacturing sectors still matter

Michigan’s 2025 USTR leaders after transportation equipment were chemicals at $5.5 billion, machinery at $5.1 billion, electrical equipment at $4.3 billion, and computers and electronics at $2.7 billion. These industries diversify the state, but they also share sensitivity to industrial investment, imported inputs, energy costs and business cycles. Some suppliers serve vehicle manufacturers, so an auto downturn can reduce demand outside the transportation-equipment category even when those suppliers are classified under chemicals, machinery or electrical equipment.

Agriculture is smaller than autos but not insulated

Michigan’s agriculture, food and forest-product exports totaled $2.9 billion in 2024. Leading markets included Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea and China. The broader customer list gives these products more destination options than a single-country market, but retaliatory tariffs can still reduce access or force lower prices. The state’s 2026 executive directive describes the transmission mechanism in concrete terms: “Those reports revealed that tariffs increased the price of raw materials, raised production costs, and restricted market access for our products.” It adds that retaliatory tariffs hurt Michigan exporters, “particularly in agriculture.”

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Why Iowa’s risk is spread across food, farms and manufacturing

A large agricultural base drives the farm shock

The Iowa Official Register, citing a U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate, reports $13.5 billion in Iowa domestic agricultural exports for 2023. The leading products were soybeans at $3.6 billion, pork at $2.8 billion, corn at $2.2 billion, feeds and feed grains at $1.7 billion, and soybean meal at $953 million.

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Product 2023 export value How a decline can spread inside Iowa
Soybeans $3.6 billion Lower foreign demand can reduce farm receipts, crushing margins, grain handling, rail and barge shipments, and purchases of seed, fertilizer and equipment.
Pork $2.8 billion Import restrictions or disease concerns can cut packer throughput and pressure livestock prices, feed demand and rural employment.
Corn $2.2 billion Export weakness can widen local stocks and lower prices, affecting elevators, ethanol and feed channels.
Feeds and feed grains $1.7 billion A slowdown reaches feed mills, livestock operations and transportation providers.
Soybean meal $953 million Reduced meal demand affects processors that separate and sell soybean products.

A Chinese or other-market restriction, commodity-price weakness, an animal or plant disease, or a transportation disruption could therefore reach several layers of Iowa’s economy. Agricultural export figures are estimates of domestic agricultural exports, not a direct measure of every product shipped through the state or every manufacturing sale tied to farming.

Manufacturing reduces, but does not remove, concentration

USTR’s 2025 Iowa leaders were food and kindred products at $3.5 billion, machinery except electrical at $3.3 billion, chemicals at $2.8 billion, transportation equipment at $969 million, and computers and electronic products at $678 million. Machinery and chemicals provide nonfarm export channels, so Iowa is not simply an agricultural state in trade terms. Their customers, however, can be exposed to capital-spending cycles, industrial tariffs and imported components.

The spread across food, machinery, chemicals, transportation equipment and electronics means a single sector is less likely to dominate Iowa’s total goods exports than transportation equipment does in Michigan. Diversification can cushion an isolated shock, although a global recession or broad tariff regime could hit several Iowa categories together.

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Canada remains an important buyer

Iowa exported $5.0 billion in goods to Canada in 2024, representing 30% of its goods exports. Canada is a major customer for food, machinery and manufactured goods, so a border measure can affect both farms and factories. Iowa’s Canadian share is lower than Michigan’s, but it is still large enough that a bilateral dispute would not be a niche event for the state.

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Would tariffs hurt Iowa farms or Michigan carmakers more?

For a tariff aimed at vehicles, parts or industrial inputs, Michigan carmakers and their supplier networks would usually face the larger immediate shock. Their production is synchronized across borders, and a tariff can raise the cost of a component at multiple stages. The effects may appear as higher prices, delayed orders, reduced shifts or postponed investment.

For tariffs or retaliation aimed at farm products, Iowa would usually face the larger direct exposure because of its crop and livestock export base. The first impact may be a lower price received by producers rather than an immediate factory shutdown. Processors, elevators, feed mills, truckers, railroads and farm-equipment dealers can then feel the reduction in volume or margins.

Neither comparison is absolute. Michigan’s agricultural exporters can be hit by retaliation, and Iowa’s machinery and chemical manufacturers can face input tariffs or lost foreign customers. The triggering product, partner country, duration and ability to redirect shipments determine the realized damage.

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How different shocks would propagate

North American auto-demand decline

  • First hit: vehicle and parts orders, especially for suppliers tied to Canadian or Mexican production.
  • Next layer: chemicals, metals, machinery, electrical components, freight carriers and tooling firms that serve vehicle production.
  • Statewide effect: reduced factory hours, overtime and investment, with weaker demand in communities concentrated around the supply chain.
  • Iowa comparison: Iowa manufacturers could lose industrial orders, but the state would not begin with the same transportation-equipment concentration.

Foreign restriction on soybeans, corn or pork

  • First hit: export bids, farm revenue and inventories.
  • Next layer: grain elevators, crushers, meatpackers, feed producers, storage operators and agricultural transport.
  • Statewide effect: lower rural spending and weaker demand for farm inputs and equipment.
  • Michigan comparison: Michigan farm and food exporters would face pressure, but the state’s larger exposure would remain in manufactured goods.

Broad tariff on imported inputs

Both states could see higher production costs. Michigan’s integrated manufacturing chains may experience repeated cost increases as components cross borders. Iowa’s machinery, chemicals and food processors could pay more for equipment, energy-related inputs, packaging or ingredients. The executive directive’s description of higher raw-material prices, higher production costs and restricted market access captures the three channels businesses should monitor.

Global recession without new tariffs

A global downturn could hit Michigan’s durable-goods and vehicle demand quickly, while Iowa would see weaker commodity prices and lower orders for machinery and chemicals. Diversification gives Iowa more potential offsets, but commodities can fall sharply when inventories rise. Michigan’s scale can support large suppliers, yet concentration makes a synchronized auto decline especially consequential.

What the data can and cannot prove

State export statistics answer different questions depending on the source and classification. USTR’s industry tables use industry groupings; the Census Bureau publishes state trade by six-digit Harmonized System product, four-digit NAICS industry, partner country and monthly or annual period; and the International Trade Administration’s State TradeStats Express supplies NAICS two-, three- and four-digit state-by-partner data.

Census also provides Trade in Products Statistics links between traded products and industries. Its 2021–2023 export files are labeled experimental, so users should document that status when using them for analysis. A reliable comparison keeps the origin-of-movement definition, industry level, partner concept and time period consistent.

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USDA agricultural-export estimates and Commerce goods-export statistics use different methodologies. Do not add Iowa’s $13.5 billion agricultural estimate to a Commerce goods-export total or treat Michigan’s $2.9 billion food, agricultural and forest-product figure as a component that can be summed with USTR manufacturing categories without checking definitions. Overlapping products, processing stages, domestic-origin rules and valuation methods can otherwise produce a misleading total.

A practical method for measuring a real export decline

  1. Choose the measure. Decide whether the question concerns goods, agricultural products, a NAICS industry or a Harmonized System product.
  2. Fix the geography and origin rule. Use state of origin or origin of movement consistently; do not switch definitions between Iowa and Michigan.
  3. Select the partner level. Start with total world exports, then isolate Canada, Mexico and other major markets.
  4. Use matching periods. Compare the same months year over year or complete calendar years. Label 2025 and 2026 figures separately from 2024 and earlier data.
  5. Calculate the change. Report both the dollar change and percentage change, and identify whether the movement reflects price, volume, exchange rates or a classification shift when the data permit.
  6. Check concentration. Calculate each sector’s share of state exports and each partner’s share. A large percentage decline in a tiny category may matter less than a modest decline in the dominant sector.
  7. Test substitution. Examine whether exporters redirected shipments to another country or whether total exports fell. A country-level decline is not automatically a state-level decline.
  8. Record limitations. Note revisions, confidentiality, experimental files and differences between agricultural and general goods statistics.

What businesses in each state should watch

Michigan indicators

  • Canadian and Mexican vehicle sales, production schedules and border clearance times.
  • Orders for engines, drivetrains, batteries, electrical systems and parts.
  • Supplier exposure to a single automaker or assembly plant.
  • Tariff classifications and rules of origin for components crossing North American borders.
  • Input-price changes in chemicals, metals, electronics and machinery.

Iowa indicators

  • Basis levels and futures prices for soybeans, corn and feed grains.
  • Foreign pork and grain purchase commitments, sanitary restrictions and inspection changes.
  • Crushing, feed-mill, packing and grain-elevator utilization.
  • Orders for agricultural machinery and industrial chemicals.
  • Rail, barge and truck capacity during a period of redirected or delayed shipments.

Bottom-line comparison

Michigan is the more concentrated and partner-dependent export economy: transportation equipment dominates its goods exports, Canada is its largest cited foreign market by share, and North American auto supply chains connect factories across borders. That makes Michigan the likelier state to experience a rapid, broad manufacturing shock from an auto tariff, border disruption or vehicle-demand decline.

Iowa’s exposure is more distributed among food, machinery, chemicals, transportation equipment and electronics, but its $13.5 billion agricultural export base creates a larger direct farm-market vulnerability. A crop, livestock or food-trade shock would hit Iowa producers and processors hardest, while a broad industrial shock could affect both states through different channels.

The fairest answer to “which state is most exposed?” is therefore scenario-based: Michigan for concentrated manufacturing and Canada/Mexico risk; Iowa for agricultural commodity and market-access risk. Neither conclusion says exports are already falling; it identifies where a decline would have the greatest potential reach.

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