$1.41 billion — Alabama’s April 2026 trade gap widened as imports reached $3.32 billion and exports slipped to $1.91 billion, more than a year after Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs took effect.
Exports fell nearly 6% from a year earlier while imports rose more than 20%, a $119 million drop in outbound goods and a $568 million increase in inbound shipments.
Automobiles and aerospace — two pillars of the state’s manufacturing base — drove the export weakness, with car exports down $187 million and aircraft exports down $39 million.
Imported components kept rising instead: electric battery imports nearly tripled, spark-ignition engine imports more than doubled, and vehicle parts remained Alabama’s largest import category.
Mexico stayed Alabama’s top trading partner, taking $384 million of exports and supplying $620 million of imports, underscoring how dependent the state remains on cross-border supply chains.