OLYMPIA, Wash. – President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs could cost Washington $2.2 billion and 31,900 jobs over the next four years, a recent analysis from the Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) found.
To conduct its analysis, OFM identified the top state imports and exports, using current statistics to make future projections if the tariffs were to continue throughout the remainder of Trump’s second term.
Washington faces particular impacts of the tariffs as the state’s economy relies heavily on international trade. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2025, Washington ranked 9th in exports and 15th in imports among all 50 states.
“On April 15, 2025, China responded to new U.S. tariffs by instructing its airlines to halt all future deliveries of Boeing jets, delivering a direct blow to one of Washington’s largest industries and employers,” the OFM report said.
Washington also boasts a strong agricultural industry, which has not been immune to the effects of tariffs either.
After the U.S. imposed tariffs on Japan, the country issued retaliatory tariffs on U.S. apples, causing apple exports to Japan to drop 99% and “resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales,” the report said.
President Trump’s tariffs have marked a dramatic shift in U.S. foreign policy. In 2024, the average effective tariff rate on imports was around 2%, according to the OFM report. In 2025, the average tariff rate is around 27%.
A tariff is a tax on imported goods, and is leveraged for varying reasons including exerting political pressure and stimulating domestic production industries, according to the World Trade Organization. The cost of the tariff is almost exclusively passed on to the domestic consumer through the form of higher prices.
To read the full report, visit the Washington State Office of Financial Management website.
