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Exports to GDP
About This Indicator
What Are Exports?
Everything the country sells abroad, goods and services together, as a share of the economy, from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. A foreign student's tuition at an American university is an export.
Why Does It Matter?
Exports pay wages at farms, aircraft plants, and software firms. They are a small slice of a continent-sized economy: trade that would cross a border in Europe crosses only a state line here.
Can Politics Influence Them?
Trade agreements and sanctions open and close markets. Tariffs can hit exporters twice: through retaliation and through the imported parts many exports are built with. Demand abroad and the dollar's value matter at least as much.
Key Idea
A strong dollar is a bargain for American shoppers and a price rise on everything the country sells abroad: when it soared in the early 1980s, exports fell from nearly 10% of GDP in 1980 to about 7% in 1985.
Not Scored
Source: BEA. NIPA Table 1.1.5 (B020RC, B021RC) over GDP.
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