Which U.S. States Rely Most on Trade With China?
Key Takeaways
- New Mexico had the highest share of goods trade with China of any U.S. state in 2025, at 18%.
- Amid tariff changes, California’s share of goods trade with China fell sharply from 20.5% in 2024 to 12.8% in 2025.
- North Dakota had the lowest share of goods trade with China among U.S. states, at just 1.2%.
Despite recent tariff tensions, China remains one of America’s most important trading partners, though its role in state trade varies widely across the country.
This visualization ranks the states that rely most on trade with China, based on China’s share of each state’s total goods trade in 2025.
The data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau and the International Trade Administration’s TradeStats Express, covering full-year 2025 goods trade, including both imports and exports.
Across all 50 states, trade with China totaled $402.6 billion in 2025. Of this total, $298.9 billion came from imports from China, while $103.7 billion came from exports to China.
New Mexico Had the Highest Share of Trade With China
New Mexico ranked first among all 50 states, with China accounting for 18% of its total goods trade in 2025.
That was well above second-place Washington, where China represented 13.6% of the state’s trade.
| Rank | State | Share of State Goods Trade With China |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico | 18.0% |
| 2 | Washington | 13.6% |
| 3 | California | 12.8% |
| 4 | Minnesota | 12.2% |
| 5 | Oregon | 11.7% |
| 6 | South Dakota | 10.3% |
| 7 | Oklahoma | 10.0% |
| 8 | Tennessee | 9.9% |
| 9 | South Carolina | 9.9% |
| 10 | Wisconsin | 9.8% |
| 11 | Missouri | 9.6% |
| 12 | Nevada | 9.1% |
| 13 | Illinois | 9.0% |
| 14 | Alaska | 8.7% |
| 15 | Virginia | 8.3% |
| 16 | Alabama | 8.3% |
| 17 | North Carolina | 8.2% |
| 18 | Ohio | 7.7% |
| 19 | Mississippi | 7.6% |
| 20 | Arkansas | 7.6% |
| 21 | Georgia | 7.6% |
| 22 | Colorado | 7.0% |
| 23 | Pennsylvania | 6.7% |
| 24 | Massachusetts | 6.7% |
| 25 | Iowa | 6.6% |
| 26 | Utah | 6.5% |
| 27 | New Jersey | 6.4% |
| 28 | Nebraska | 6.3% |
| 29 | Kentucky | 6.3% |
| 30 | Delaware | 6.1% |
| 31 | Hawaii | 6.0% |
| 32 | Kansas | 5.8% |
| 33 | Indiana | 5.7% |
| 34 | Florida | 5.7% |
| 35 | West Virginia | 5.3% |
| 36 | Texas | 4.9% |
| 37 | Connecticut | 4.9% |
| 38 | Maryland | 4.6% |
| 39 | New Hampshire | 4.4% |
| 40 | Arizona | 4.3% |
| 41 | New York | 4.2% |
| 42 | Vermont | 4.1% |
| 43 | Michigan | 4.0% |
| 44 | Rhode Island | 3.9% |
| 45 | Wyoming | 3.6% |
| 46 | Idaho | 3.5% |
| 47 | Louisiana | 3.2% |
| 48 | Maine | 2.7% |
| 49 | Montana | 1.4% |
| 50 | North Dakota | 1.2% |
In dollar terms, New Mexico’s trade with China totaled $4.9 billion out of $27.4 billion in total global trade, including $1.8 billion in imports from China and $3.1 billion in exports to China.
New Mexico stands out because it ranked just 34th among U.S. states by the dollar value of China trade, yet China accounted for the largest share of its overall trade mix.
The table below ranks U.S. states by China’s share of total state goods trade in 2025:
At the other end of the ranking, North Dakota had the lowest share of state trade with China, at 1.2%. This is due in part to most of the state’s exports going to neighboring Canada, along with retaliatory tariffs that reduced agricultural shipments to China.
West Coast States Rank Near the Top
All three West Coast states ranked among the top five, with Washington placing second at 13.6%, California third at 12.8%, and Oregon fifth at 11.7%.
California saw one of the sharpest shifts from the previous year. Its China trade share fell from 20.5% in 2024, when it ranked first nationally, amid 2025 tariff changes and the removal of duty-free de minimis treatment for Chinese shipments.
Nevertheless, with the country’s busiest port and the largest economy of any U.S. state, California still had the highest trade value with China in 2025, at $86.3 billion. That equated to 21.4% of the total value of all 50 states’ trade with China that year.
California’s trade with China was heavily weighted toward imports, with $76.1 billion in imports compared with $10.3 billion in exports.
California’s main Chinese imports include computer and electronic products, electrical equipment and components, apparel and accessories, machinery, and fabricated metal products.
Trade Share Shows a Different Kind of Trade Exposure
Trade share can tell a very different story from total trade value.
Texas, for example, had the second-largest total trade with China by value, at $42.5 billion. But because Texas trades heavily with many global partners and has the highest total trade value of any state, China accounted for just 4.9% of its goods trade, placing it 36th by share.
This measure highlights where China represents a larger portion of a state’s trade mix, rather than simply where the largest dollar flows occur.
Despite ongoing U.S. tariffs on imports from China, the U.S. remains China’s largest trading partner. However, bilateral trade declined by 18.7% in 2025 compared with 2024.
For states near the top of the ranking, shifts in tariffs, supply chains, or demand from China may have a larger relative impact on their overall trade profile.
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