12/05/2023

Reports » Trade Reports

California Trade Report for July 2020

Below are highlights from the recently released trade data from the US Census Bureau and US Bureau of Economic Analysis. To view additional data and analysis related to the California economy visit our website at www.centerforjobs.org/ca.

Share of Goods through US Ports

17.6%
CA Share of Total Trade
Through US Ports

The share of total US goods trade (exports and imports) through California ports edged up to 17.58% (12 month moving average; compared to 17.48% in June 2020 and 17.9% in July 2019).

California remained the #1 state, ahead of Texas with 17.40% (compared to 17.45% in June 2020 and 17.69% in July 2019). Trade through the Atlantic port states was at 30.39% (compared to 30.33% in Jun 2020 and 29.62% in Jul 2019). The state’s continued lead in this area forms the trade-related base for one of California’s largest centers of middle-class, blue-collar jobs. Transportation & Warehousing alone provided 615,400 jobs in July (down from 644,900 in July 2019), paying an average annual salary of $62.0k. This employment base in turn supports additional blue-collar and white-collar jobs in a range of other industries.

California Goods Exports Decrease

-$0.1b
Billion in Exports

Total California goods exports were down $0.1 billion from July 2019 (down 0.4%). California remained in 2nd place with 10.77% of all US goods exports (12-month moving total), behind Texas at 20.13%.

California's Balance for Goods Trade

-$23.0b
Billion of Goods Trade

California’s balance of goods trade activity through state businesses broadened to -$23.0 billion, compared to a level of -$22.4 billion in July 2019. California trade accounted for 26% of the US trade deficit in goods in July 2020.

Top 20 Exports, July 2020

Top 20 exports by value are shown below, along with the change from July 2019.

By shipping weight (vessel and air total), the leading export was Waste & Scrap at 0.9 billion kg (34% of total exports), followed by Petroleum & Coal Products at 0.7 billion kg (27%), and Other Agricultural Products at 0.2 billion kg (7%).

Top 10 Export Markets, July 2020