Indiana exports: County vulnerabilities

Executive Editor and Director, Indiana Business Research Center, Indiana University Kelley School of Business

Auto parts manufacturing occurs in 67 of the 92 counties in Indiana, making it an industry particularly vulnerable to tariffs.

Valued at close to $60 billion last year, Indiana’s exports rank ninth among the 50 states. We don’t currently have such data at the county level, but we can make connections between the state-level exports data and the counties producing the most popular Hoosier exports, including pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles and parts, medical devices, engines and turbines, plastics and many agricultural commodities.

Looking at Indiana’s top exports (see Table 1) not only helps us understand the scale and scope of what we export, but also which Indiana economic growth regions (EGRs) may be the most vulnerable to tariffs imposed by other countries (likely in response to those being imposed by the U.S.). In this article, we provide multiple perspectives through these maps and tables to identify the vulnerability of individual Indiana counties based on the value of the goods they produce (as measured by gross county product). We do not currently have export-specific data at the county level, so we are using the value of production as a proxy.

Auto parts manufacturing occurs in 67 of the 92 counties in Indiana (see Figure 1). Howard County (Kokomo) clocks the highest number of auto manufacturing jobs. Automobile assembly occurs in a smaller number of counties (see Figure 2), notably the locations for Subaru (Tippecanoe County), Toyota (Gibson County), Honda (Decatur County) and GM (Allen County).

Figure 1: Density of auto parts manufacturing jobs by Indiana county, 2024

Source: Lightcast

Figure 2: Number of jobs in automobile assembly by Indiana county, 2024

Source: Lightcast

County-based Table 2 is straightforward: Indiana counties are listed in alphabetical order alongside the top export industries in which they produced more than $100 million in goods in 2024. This table shows each county’s tariff vulnerability by displaying the county’s gross product in that industry, as well as the number of jobs and the average wage per job in that industry for that county.

It is also useful to know more about the specific commodities that Indiana exports, especially to its largest trading partners. Table 4 identifies the top 25 Indiana commodities (or products) exported to Canada or Mexico and also provides the top-level HS code, an important number for tracking tariffs to determine which countries are setting new tariffs on U.S. goods. There is a tracking tool at the International Trade website that could be useful in navigating the changes we expect to see through the spring and perhaps into summer. Other resources include Trade Partnership Worldwide and law firm ArentFox Schiff’s take on tracking tariffs with commodity-specific information.