Alabama

Alabama's economy faces a two-front tariff war. The state's booming auto sector — anchored by Mercedes-Benz in Tuscaloosa, Hyundai in Montgomery, and Honda in Lincoln — depends on integrated North American supply chains now disrupted by 25% auto tariffs. Every vehicle assembled in Alabama contains hundreds of parts crossing the Mexican and Canadian borders multiple times. Meanwhile, the Port of Mobile handles billions in steel and aluminum imports critical to the state's shipbuilding industry at Austal USA, which builds Navy combat ships. China's retaliatory tariffs directly target Alabama's $1.8B poultry export industry — the state is the nation's third-largest broiler producer — and its cotton exports to Asian mills. Aerospace giant Airbus assembles A320 jets in Mobile using globally-sourced components now subject to new duties. The compounding effect: higher input costs squeeze manufacturers while retaliation closes export markets, putting Alabama's blue-collar manufacturing renaissance at risk.