Iowa exports hit record $15.1 billion

Iowa merchandise exports reached a record $15.1 billion in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration.

Iowa's goods exports were led by a number of sectors, including machinery, except electrical ($3.6 billion); food and kindred products ($3.4 billion); and agricultural products ($2.0 billion).

Iowa merchandise exports supported an estimated 81,000 jobs in 2013, contributing to 11.3 million jobs nationwide that were supported by goods and services exports year.

On average, jobs in export-related industries pay up to 18 percent more than non-export-related industries.

Nearly $8.6 billion (57 percent) of Iowa's goods exports last year went countries that have free trade agreement with the United States. Over the past 10 years, merchandise exports from Iowa to these markets grew by 104 percent, with sales to Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and Korea showing the largest dollar growth over this period.

The release of Iowa's 2014 export data coincides with a push by the Obama Administration to get Congress to approve bipartisan trade promotion authority legislation.

The regional trade agreements under negotiation - the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - accounted for 62 percent of U.S. goods exports in 2014 and supported an estimated 4.2 million U.S. jobs in 2013.

Iowa exported $8.7 billion annually in goods to all TPP markets, which accounted for 60 percent of the state's goods exported.

Iowa's exports are expected to benefit from new market access as a result of Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Vietnam eliminating tariffs in connection with the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

Iowa exported an average of $2.2 billion annually in goods to the European Union since 2012.

The TTIP is expected to provide new opportunities for industry.