A 284-page report on the state of U.S. remanufactured goods, industries, and markets published by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) is a long-awaited and groundbreaking resource document, according to the Remanufacturing Industries Council (RIC), the industry’s leading trade organization.
RIC Chairman Jack Stack described the report—Remanufactured Goods: An Overview of the U.S. and Global Industries, Markets and Trade—as “the most up-to-date and comprehensive overview of domestic remanufacturing ever issued by the federal government. It finally corrects the misperception that remanufacturing is only a minor subsector of American industry.”
Among the report’s key findings are:
- The United States is the world’s largest remanufacturer.
- Remanufacturing represents an important and growing segment of U.S. manufacturing.
- From 2009 to 2011, the value of U.S. remanufactured production grew by 15% to at least $43B.
- Remanufacturing accounts for approximately 180,000 full-time U.S. jobs.
- In 2011, U.S. exports of remanufactured goods totaled $11.7B; close to 40% of the total went to free trade agreement partners.
Stack noted that the report also formally defines remanufacturing as “an industrial process that restores end-of-life goods to their original working condition,” which should serve as the standard definition for the industry.
