New Mexico

New Mexico's tariff exposure is concentrated in two unlikely sectors: cutting-edge technology and traditional agriculture. The state's national laboratories — Los Alamos and Sandia — drive a defense technology ecosystem largely insulated from tariffs, but the commercial tech sector around Albuquerque (Intel's Rio Rancho fab, Raytheon, and numerous defense contractors) depends on imported materials and equipment subject to tariffs. Intel's New Mexico operations produce older-node chips using equipment and materials sourced globally. New Mexico is America's #2 pecan-producing state (after Georgia), and China was the largest buyer of US pecans before retaliatory tariffs — as high as 47% — devastated the market. The state's dairy industry in the Pecos Valley has grown rapidly, with exports to Mexico now threatened by trade tensions. New Mexico's iconic chile pepper industry, while small in dollar terms, faces both import competition (cheaper Chinese chiles) and retaliatory barriers. The state's oil production in the Permian Basin (southeastern NM) has boomed, providing some economic diversification, but tariffs on drilling equipment and steel pipe raise extraction costs. Virgin Galactic's Spaceport America adds aerospace flair but minimal trade exposure.