Wisconsin companies exported $9.74 billion in goods during the first six months of the year, an 11.3% drop from the same period in 2019.
At the current pace, exports would be down $2.45 billion for the full year and $3.5 billion from 2018 levels.
The state’s exports have been hit hard since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping 22.4% in April, 25% in May and 18.7% in June, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Wisconsin is seeing relatively better performance compared to other states, ranking 20th for the first six months and 21st in June. Minnesota, with a 6.7% decline, and Iowa, down 8.9%, are doing better than Wisconsin, ranking 13th and 15th respectively for the year.
Illinois exports are slightly worse, down 15.3% and ranking 30th. Indiana ranks 36th with exports down 18.3% and Michigan is 48th with exports down 31.3%.
Exports to many of Wisconsin’s top product destinations are down for the first half of the year. Canada, Wisconsin’s top market, is down 15.9%. Exports to Mexico have dropped 32.2% and shipments to Europe are down 10.9%.
Exports to China are actually up 15.8% for the year, an increase of around $100 million from 2019 levels.
Wisconsin imports are also down sharply during the pandemic, dropping 10.4% for the year or $1.4 billion.
Imports from China are down 24.6% from 2019, a drop of nearly $767 million.
Wisconsin has increased imports from several other Asian countries as supply chains shift to other locations amid new tariffs on Chinese products.
Imports from Thailand have increased 51.4%, a jump of almost $37 million from last year. Taiwan, up 27.3%, Japan, up 20.6%, South Korea, up 10.3% and Vietnam, up 5.2%, have also seen increases.
