EDA Office of Foreign Trade • Riverside County, California • USA
August 2012
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EXPORT
4
A
new study from the Brooking
Institution, a Washington, D.C. think
tank, ranked the Riverside metropolitan
statistical area 24th among the top
100
metropolitan areas for export
performance. With $10.9 billion of export
value, the Riverside MSA ranked just
behind Pittsburgh and ahead of the
Denver, Charlotte and Baltimore MSAs.
The report, entitled “Export Nation 2012:
How U.S. Metropolitan Areas Are Driving
National Growth,” found that, even as
the country was losing jobs overall,
export-supported jobs rose almost 6
percent in 2010, the most recent year
for which statistics were available.
Exports directly supported 39,400 jobs
in the Riverside MSA, which ranked
the area 23rd in the nation in 2010, the
most recent year for which statistics
are available. Exports supported 73,600
jobs overall, which ranked the area
24
th in the U.S., Brookings found.
“
This report documents very clearly
what many of us in Riverside County
have known intuitively – exports are
making a difference in the success
of local business and in the lives of
Riverside County families who depend
on jobs that are supported by our
exporting success,” said Supervisor
and Board Chair, John Tavaglione.
He went on to say, “The Board of
Supervisors has made it a priority
to build on our county’s exporting
success, and this report from Brookings
is a validation of that decision.”
The overall value of exports in the
Riverside MSA rose 9.5 percent from
2009
to 2010, an increase over the
previous five years, when annualized
export values increased about 9.3
percent, according to Brookings.
Exports made up about 8.3 percent
of the Riverside MSA’s gross domestic
product in 2010, the study found.
The Riverside MSA experienced
double-digit growth in nearly all of
its top 10 export sectors, according to
Brookings. Such sectors included:
Transportation equipment
+ 13.7 percent.
Machinery + 18.6 percent.
Computers + 20.5 percent.
Agriculture + 9 percent.
Food + 14.2 percent.
Plastics + 13.7 percent.
Freight + 10 percent.
Petroleum + 67 percent.
Metal products + 13 percent.
Medical equipment + 1.7 percent.
Among other, much larger, areas
of California, Los Angeles MSA
ranked #1, followed by San Francisco
(#6),
San Jose (#11) and San Diego
(#17).
Las Vegas finished #36.
Canada and Mexico remain the largest
export markets for U.S. companies, with
about a quarter of good and services
that were exported in 2010 headed to
those two countries, Brookings found.
Emerging markets for U.S. exports
include Brazil, India and China.
Brookings is not the only entity to
recognize Riverside County’s success.
Global Trade magazine noted in its
August/September (2012) issue that
the Riverside metropolitan statistical
area has been “very aggressive in
its pursuit of international trade,”
ranking the county within the Top 50
areas for global trade in the U.S.
The region enjoys healthy trade
relationships with Canada, Mexico and
Japan, among other countries, the
magazine noted. The region is especially
strong in the export of manufactured
Riverside County’s success in
developing a strong export
program continues to gain
notice around the country
and around the world.
Riverside County Board of Supervisors
Chairman John Tavaglione.
