Wyoming could be caught up in a trade war because the top destination for the state’s exports is Canada — one of the countries that President Donald Trump promised Friday would be charged tariffs “starting tomorrow,” along with China and Mexico.
Trump is proposing a 25% import levy on goods from Canada and Mexico, plus a 10% tax on imports from China, possibly going into effect Saturday. Those tariffs figure to benefit U.S. producers selling domestically by raising prices of foreign goods in the U.S. market.
“Starting tomorrow, those tariffs will be in place,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday. “These are promises made and promises kept by the president.”
But the tariffs could lead those countries, America’s largest trading partners, to slap tariffs on the U.S. in retaliation, crippling U.S exports.
U.S. Sen John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, said Trump’s tariffs, or even the threat of them, could be a persuasive means to ensure the U.S. is treated fairly in global commerce.
“President Trump is fighting to protect American workers, secure our border and put our economy back on track,” he said in a statement to Cowboy State Daily. “He is right to hold accountable the countries who don’t treat us fairly.
“Their actions have made America less safe and put our national security at risk,” added Barrasso, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate. “Tariffs, or just the threat of tariffs, can be an effective tactic to get these countries to the negotiation table. Republicans will work with President Trump to make sure we get the best deal for the American people.”
Wyoming Does Business With Canada
According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) housed within the executive office of the president, Canada took in more Wyoming goods than any other country in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available.
Canada imported about $380 million worth of Wyoming products that year, 18% of the state’s total exports. However, the other two countries in Trump’s crosshairs — Mexico and China — are not major markets for Wyoming products, according to the USTR.
The agency says that after Canada, the countries buying the most Wyoming goods in 2023 were Chile, Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea, in that order.
The USTR says chemicals accounted for the vast majority of Wyoming exports in 2023 with $1.7 billion out of a total of $2.1 billion.
A spokesman for the American Chemistry Council, a trade association representing U.S. chemical makers, had no immediate comment on Trump’s tariff threats.
The spokesman, Andrew Fasoli, told Cowboy State Daily by phone late Friday afternoon that the Washington, D.C.-based group was still in the process of putting together a statement on the matter.
Besides chemicals, Wyoming exports include agricultural goods, machinery, petroleum and coal products, fabricated metals and more.
Among Wyoming’s agricultural exports, the largest category by far is beef and veal. The USTR’s latest numbers include a 2022 figure borrowed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showing $147 million worth of Wyoming beef and veal were exported that year, more than double that of any other category.
Cowboy State Daily reached out to the Wyoming Economic Development Association and the Wyoming Beef Council for input on the tariffs but did not get responses before this story was published.
