Exporting is big business in Baton Rouge and it’s vital to the Capital Region economy. That point is more than underscored in a new report from the Brookings Institution, which says the Baton Rouge metro area derives a bigger share of its gross domestic product from exporting than any other of the nation’s 100 largest metros.
That means the Baton Rouge economy is among the most vulnerable to President Donald Trump’s “America first” trade policies—especially if foreign nations retaliate by raising tariffs on American exports—Brookings suggests.
While nothing is set in stone yet, the Trump administration has floated a 20% tariff on Mexican imports and is threatening to tear up international trade agreements.
Exports account for 24.3% of Baton Rouge’s GDP and supports more than 42,305 jobs, including some 13,309 direct jobs, according to Brookings, which looked at 2013 exporting data from eight different sources for its analysis.
While Brookings notes the nation’s major regional economies like New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Seattle are “trading giants,” that doesn’t mean their economies are very reliant on the exports as a driver of economic growth and jobs.
But among the largest 100 metro areas, export-dependent economies tend to be major centers of advanced industries such as energy production, aerospace, automotive and electronics.
“Trade is generally regarded as a national issue, but it is underpinned by local collections of firms that often concentrate together to form industrial clusters,” the report reads. “This means that changes in federal trade policy can have large implications for individual communities, whose reliance on trade can vary widely by dint of the tradability of their local industry mix and overall global orientation.”
When considering all U.S. metro areas, Columbus, Indiana, is ranked No. 1, with over half of its economy driven by exports. Lake Charles is ranked No. 3, with 36.9% of its economy driven by exports. When compared to all U.S. metros, Baton Rouge is ranked No. 9 for its share of GDP by exports.
Read the full Brookings report and see the complete exporting rankings.
—Alexandria Burris
