U.S. high-tech merchandise exports totaled $214 billion in 2007, decreasing three percent from $220 billion in 2006, according to AeA's Trade in the Cyberstates 2008, a study that looks at high-tech trade flows at the national level and tech goods exports for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

This report is a partner publication to AeA's annual flagship publication, Cyberstates, which looks at high-tech employment, wages, and other factors at the national and state-by-state level.

High tech is the single largest merchandise export sector in the United States, $214 billion in 2007, representing 18 percent of all U.S. exports to the world. High-tech imports totaled $333 billion in 2007, up by three percent, resulting in a high-tech trade deficit of $118 billion.

"Trade is critical for the U.S. high-tech industry and for every state's economy," said Christopher W. Hansen, President and CEO, AeA. "The bad news is that U.S. tech exports declined slightly in 2007. The good news, however, is that tech exports rose in 29 states. These exports support nearly 900,000 American jobs - an often overlooked fact."

"We urge our leaders in Washington, DC to work together to open new foreign markets for U.S. exports," said Rob Mulligan, Senior Vice
President, International, AeA. "And our trade partners need to uphold their side of the bargain by protecting intellectual property, lowering tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade, and supporting international trade commitments. In a global economy, the only way to succeed is to support open trade policies where American companies and workers can compete freely and fairly."

Twenty-nine cyberstates saw tech export growth between 2006 and 2007. The largest growth was in Virginia, Florida, Idaho, New Jersey, and Utah, as measured by dollar increase. California was the leading high-tech export state with $48.2 billion in exports in 2007, followed by Texas with $35.9 billion. Florida, New York, and Massachusetts rounded out the top five. The largest decrease in tech exports occurred in California, Texas, and Colorado.

The largest overseas markets for U.S. high-tech exports in 2007 were the European Union ($46.6 billion), Canada ($29.4 billion), Mexico ($26.0 billion), China ($14.5 billion), Japan ($11.9 billion), and Singapore ($9.2 billion).

The fastest growing large export markets (defined as having $1 billion or more in U.S. tech exports) for U.S. tech exports between 2006 and 2007 were Portugal (+204%), the Dominican Republic (+45%), Belgium (+41%), Colombia (+28%), and Argentina (+21%).

On the other side of the trade picture, the United States imported the most high-tech products from China ($112.3 billion), Mexico ($51.3 billion), the European Union ($33.4 billion), Japan ($29.2 billion), and Malaysia ($25.1 billion).

High tech was the second largest import sector, just behind energy products. The largest high-tech import subsectors in 2007 were computers and peripheral equipment ($103.2 billion), communications equipment ($74.0 billion), and consumer electronics ($54.4 billion).