ATLANTA – Georgia businesses continued years of export growth last year, with a 6.4% gain and more than $53 billion in merchandise shipped, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Friday.

Top exports were civilian aircraft and parts at $12.6 billion, motor vehicles at $2.4 billion, computers at $1.8 billion, telephone sets at $1.6 billion, and medical devices at $1.3 billion.

Kemp noted the state’s key assets, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest, and two booming ports.

Brunswick recently supplanted Baltimore as the nation’s busiest port for autos and heavy equipment. Savannah has the fastest growing port in the country. Georgia also boasts more rail miles than any other Southeastern state.

Exporters here can tap the state’s official international presence, with trade representatives in a dozen global markets. But businesses have gone beyond those markets.

“Georgia’s diverse industry base and connectivity to more than 200 global markets create a more resilient state economy,” said Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

However, the state is running a trade deficit with some major partners. Georgia imported $18.6 billion in merchandise from Mexico last year, nearly three times more than the $6.3 billion exported south of the border.

The gap with China was even larger: the state imported $17.2 billion from that industrial powerhouse, more than five times the $3 billion exported to the Asian giant. Germany sent four times more exports to Georgia than the state imported from that nation, at $11.8 billion versus $2.4 billion.

Motor vehicle imports – $15 billion – were more than six times greater than exports. The state also imported twice the value of computers and telephone sets than it exported.

Still, exports continued a long growth trend of 37% over a decade. Top export markets were Canada at $7.4 billion, followed by Mexico, China, the Netherlands and Germany.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs could affect that trend though.

Broad and high tariffs on imports likely will drive up prices for Georgia consumers, while retaliatory tariffs levied by America’s trading partners could damage export industries, State Economist Robert Buschman told Georgia lawmakers Wednesday during his annual economic outlook presentation.