United States International Trade Commis

Remanufactured Goods: an Overview of the U.s. and Global Industries, Markets, and Trade United States International Trade Commis

Publisher Marketing: Remanufacturing is an industrial process that restores end-of-life goods to their original working condition. This report provides an overview of U. S. remanufactured goods industries and markets, estimates U. S. trade in remanufactured goods, and examines major factors that affected U. S. sales, trade, and investment during 2009-11. The United States is the largest remanufacturer in the world, and between 2009 and 2011, the value of U. S. remanufactured production grew by 15 percent to at least $43.0 billion, supporting 180,000 full-time U. S. jobs. The remanufacturing-intensive sectors that account for the majority of remanufacturing activity in the United States include aerospace, consumer products, electrical apparatus, heavy-duty and off-road equipment, information technology products, locomotives, machinery, medical devices, motor vehicle parts, office furniture, restaurant equipment, and retreaded tires. U. S. exports of remanufactured goods totaled $11.7 billion in 2011; almost 40 percent of the total went to free trade agreement partners. Foreign remanufacturers that have invested in the United States account for about one-sixth of U. S. trade in remanufactured goods and cores (the used or discarded component that is remanufactured). Although the United States and Europe currently account for the bulk of remanufacturing activities and associated trade, other countries are developing their own remanufacturing industries. In foreign markets, regulatory barriers, import bans, and the lack of a common definition of remanufactured goods limit trade in remanufactured goods and cores.