Breadcrumb

Colorado

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Would Expand Market Access

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) offers tremendous opportunities for U.S. exporters.  TPP members comprise a population of roughly 800 million and these dynamic economies generate nearly 40 percent of global GDP. The United States already has strong trade and investment ties to this region; we exported $697.8 billion in goods to all TPP markets in 2013, or about 44 percent of total U.S. exports, and are seeking through TPP to further deepen our economic relations.

Colorado Trade Facts

  • In 2017, Colorado exported $8.1 billion of Made-in-America goods to the world.  In 2016, exports from Colorado supported an estimated 40 thousand jobs.

Exports from Colorado and Jobs

  • Colorado was the 33rd largest state exporter of goods in 2017.
  • In 2017, Colorado goods exports were $8.1 billion, an increase of 10 percent ($702 million) from its export level in 2007.

  • Goods exports accounted for 2.3 percent of Colorado GDP in 2017).

  • Colorado goods exports in 2016 (latest year available) supported an estimated 40 thousand jobs. Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.

Made-in-America Manufacturing Exports from Colorado and Jobs

  • In 2017, Colorado exported $7.6 billion of manufactured products.

  • Colorado exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 36 thousand jobs in 2016.

  • The state's largest manufacturing export category is computer & electronic products, which accounted for $1.9 billion of Colorado's total goods exports in 2017.

  • Other top manufacturing exports are food & kindred products ($1.7 billion), machinery, except electrical ($818 million), chemicals ($767 million), and miscellaneous manufactured commodities ($475 million).

Exports Sustain Thousands of Colorado Businesses many of which are SMEs

  • A total of 5,582 companies exported from Colorado locations in 2016 (latest year available). Of those, 4,857 (87 percent) were small and medium sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.

  •  Small and medium-sized firms generated 28.1 percent of Colorado's total exports of goods in 2015.

Colorado Depends on World Markets

  • The state’s largest market was Canada. Colorado exported $1.4 billion in goods to Canada in 2017, representing 17 percent of the state’s total goods exports.

  • Canada was followed by Mexico ($1.3 billion), China ($586 million), Japan ($445 million), and Malaysia ($417 million).

  • Colorado’s exports (2017 values) to major world areas included:

 

2017 Value

APEC

$5.7 billion

Asia

$2.9 billion

European Union

$1.4 billion

South/Central America and Caribbean

$347 million

Sub-Saharan Africa

$51 million

  • 44 percent of Colorado’s exports ($3.5 billion) go to current FTA partners.  

Agriculture in Colorado depends on Exports

  • Colorado is the country’s 26th largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $1.5 billion in domestic agricultural exports abroad in 2016 (latest data available according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture).1

  • Top Agricultural exports (2016 values) were:

 

2016 Value

 2016 State Rank

other plant products

$307 million

14

beef and veal

$307 million

5

wheat

$178 million

10

feeds and other feed grains

$146 million

15

corn

$105 million

15

International Investment Creates Jobs in Colorado

  • In 2015 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 103,200 Colorado workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Colorado included the United Kingdom, Canada and France. 

  • Foreign investment in Colorado was responsible for 4.8 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2015.

Colorado’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

  • In 2016 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Colorado recorded goods exports: Denver-Aurora-Lakewood ($3.6 billion), Greeley ($1.5 billion), Fort Collins ($994 million), Boulder ($956 million), Colorado Springs ($787 million), Pueblo ($208 million), Grand Junction ($86 million).