Remanufactured Goods: An Overview of the U.S. and Global Industries, Markets, and Trade

Remanufacturing is an industrial process that restores end-of-life goods to their originalworking condition. This report provides an overview of U.S. remanufactured goodsindustries and markets, estimates U.S. trade in remanufactured goods, and examinesmajor factors that affected U.S. sales, trade, and investment during 2009-11. The UnitedStates is the largest remanufacturer in the world, and between 2009 and 2011, the valueof 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 thataccount for the majority of remanufacturing activity in the United States includeaerospace, consumer products, electrical apparatus, heavy-duty and off-road equipment, information technology products, locomotives, machinery, medical devices, motorvehicle parts, office furniture, restaurant equipment, and retreaded tires. U.S. exports ofremanufactured goods totaled $11.7 billion in 2011; almost 40 percent of the total went tofree trade agreement partners. Foreign remanufacturers that have invested in the UnitedStates account for about one-sixth of U.S. trade in remanufactured goods and cores (theused or discarded component that is remanufactured). Although the United States andEurope 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 remanufacturedgoods limit trade in remanufactured goods and co