The ITA promotes trade and investments in the United States through data aggregation and studies on global markets and specific U.S. regions. The agency utilizes its research to negotiate on behalf of U.S. industries and is also responsible for enforcing compliance with trade agreements.
The ITA reports trade totals for exports in the largest export metros in the U.S. The Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson metro area, which consists of eight counties, exported $4.1 billion in 2018. The U.S. metro area with the nearest export total was the two-county San Juan-Carolina-Caguas metro area in Puerto Rico.
The metro area responsible for the most exports in the U.S. was Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, a nine-county metro area in Texas. It exported $120.71 billion in 2018, or $116.61 billion more than Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson.
The following table shows the value of total exports for other metros with export totals similar to Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson.
| Rank | Metro Area | Total exported (in billions) | Difference from San Juan-Carolina-Caguas, PR (in billions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | $7.34 | $3.24 |
| 39 | Kansas City, MO-KS | $7.26 | $3.16 |
| 40 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | $6.57 | $2.47 |
| 41 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | $4.1 | -- |
| 42 | San Juan-Carolina-Caguas, PR | $3.97 | -$0.13 |
| 43 | Columbus, OH | $2.22 | -$1.88 |
| 44 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | $1.56 | -$2.54 |