Exporting from the Spokane area is an activity we don’t hear much about these days. One of the reasons lies in the demise of the International Trade Alliance, which for years promoted local businesses to go global. Another reason is that not much has changed in exports over the past 10 years, at least for Spokane.

The latest data from the U.S. International Trade Administration, as of 2024, put the value of merchandise exports, excluding exports in services, from the Spokane-Spokane Valley metro area at $852 million. The metro area encompasses Spokane and Stevens counties. This wasn’t much larger than in 2015, when the metro area registered merchandise exports of $823 million. 

In other words, local exports increased 4% over 10 years. In inflation-adjusted terms, they declined. 

Over the same period, Kootenai County registered a value of $345 million. Its 2024 merchandise exports were considerably stronger than the Spokane-Spokane Valley metro area on a per capita basis: $1,842 vs. $1,409.

Kootenai County’s export growth over the decade was much stronger as well, seeing an overall 70% increase across the same 10-year period. In large part, the export growth differential between both sides of the state line is due to a much faster expansion of manufacturing in Idaho. Between 2015 and 2025, manufacturing activity — specifically its value added — expanded by 65% in Idaho. Compared to the Spokane-Spokane Valley metro area, the value of manufacturing activity expanded by a cumulative 29%.

In Washington state, the Spokane-Spokane Valley metro area isn't alone in its tepid expansion of goods exports. The Seattle metro area experienced a significant decline between 2015 and 2025, as its total export value dropped from $67.2 billion to $33.7 billion. Even with that decline, the Seattle metro area still ranked as 13th largest in the country in 2024.

The mix of Spokane exporters today is similar to a decade ago with machinery makers leading export activity. 

Manufacturers here create machines for a variety of industries: agriculture; mining; lumber; food; construction; ventilation, heating, and cooling; and metalworking, engine, turbine and power transmission. Additionally, manufacturers make a variety of “general purpose” machines, such as packaging, tractor trailer, and conveyor equipment.

The products often contain good margins.

Behind machinery exports, primary metal manufacturing remains the second-largest category, led by aluminum and precious metals, followed by transportation equipment in a distant third.

In broad terms, Kootenai County has shared a somewhat similar export mix with Spokane: machinery manufacturing is at the top, followed by transportation equipment.

A good part of the growth differential between the two counties lies in the specific industries that make up each metro’s manufacturing industry.

Central Basin exporters in Eastern Washington have dealt with recent weaknesses as well. Led primarily by fruit products, merchandise exports from the Wenatchee metro area grew by 2% over the decade. Exports from Yakima County, also fruit-dominated, grew by 5%.

Only Tri-Cities showed modest growth in goods exports between 2015 and 2024, at a cumulative 22%. In Benton and Franklin counties, processed foods, such as french fries, have surpassed traditional agricultural products as the primary category of merchandise exports.

Despite their modest growth, these Eastern Washington metros significantly outperformed the broader statewide experience. Over the decade, total exports from Washington state plunged by one-third. This challenges the conventional wisdom about Washington’s place among the top exporting states in the U.S and reflects the dominance of aerospace in the state’s export mix. 

In 2015, aerospace contributed $51.6 billion, 60% of total state exports, compared to 2024 exports valued at $17.5 billion, which represent only 30% of the state's total goods exports.

Compared to the U.S., all local and Eastern Washington metros underperformed. Over the same period, national exports notched a cumulative 37%, in nominal terms.

The modest increases in goods exports from 2 of the 3 metro areas should not cloud their general standing as export stalwarts in the state, on a per capita basis.

For the Wenatchee and Yakima metro areas, 2024 exports per capita were $4,100 and $4,800, respectively. These are much higher than the Spokane and Kootenai County metro areas. Even in a weak year such as 2024, it's important to note that exports per capita from the Seattle metro area, at $8,100, were head and shoulders above those in Eastern Washington.

Why do we care? Exporting is vital to compete successfully on the world stage. The ability to sell in global markets signals a competitive advantage held by these companies. Often too, manufacturers that export utilize local supply chains, producing larger ripple effects than those that don't export. Of course, the pandemic revealed that in some cases, manufacturing supply chains were not always local or regional.

Finally, exporters often create enough value added to allow for relatively high wages paid to their staff. We all like to see business success translate into heftier employee paychecks.

The 2025 results won’t be out for a while at the metro level. If Spokane and Kootenai county metro areas follow the national experience, we might expect a 6% gain over 2024 exports. If the two metro areas follow the state experience, we might expect a 13% gain.

Given the record of the past decade, any increase between these outcomes would be an achievement.

Exports from this year might be another matter. For the first quarter of 2026, national goods exports dropped fast from 2025, declining 14%. On the other hand, state growth has been strongly positive, at 17% over the same interval. 

Let’s hope that regional exporters are marching to this drumbeat and not to the nation’s.

Patrick Jones, Ph.D., is the executive director of the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis, at Eastern Washington University.