The total value of US iron and steel imports registered a 43% increase from $74.2 billion in 2018. From 2021 to 2022, America’s purchases of iron and steel materials plus products accelerated by 22.2% starting from $86.8 billion.
Drilling down from that overall dollar metric, American importers spent 57.7% ($61.2 billion) on imported products made from iron or steel. In comparison, 42.3% ($44.9 billion) was earmarked for importing iron or steel as metal materials.
Among countries, the People’s Republic of China approached a fifth (16.6%) of America’s overall spending on iron and steel-related imports ahead of Canada at 14.8% and Mexico at 13.1%.
The Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code prefix is 72 for iron and steel as materials and 73 for products made from iron or steel.
Countries Exporting Iron and Steel to America
America’s top 15 suppliers of iron and steel in 2022 collected $88 billion worth of sales to the United States during 2022, or 83% of America’s overall total spending on those commodities.
Another metric indicating the concentration of US iron and steel suppliers is that the top 5 providers below accounted for almost three-fifths (57.1%) of the overall value for America’s imports of iron and steel-related products.
- China: US$17.6 billion (16.6% of US iron/steel imports)
- Canada: $15.7 billion (14.8%)
- Mexico: $13.9 billion (13.1%)
- Taiwan: $6.9 billion (6.5%)
- South Korea: $6.6 billion (6.2%)
- Brazil: $4.7 billion (4.4%)
- India: $4.6 billion (4.4%)
- Germany: $3.7 billion (3.5%)
- Japan: $3.4 billion (3.2%)
- Vietnam: $2.6 billion (2.5%)
- Italy: $2.2 billion (2%)
- Thailand: $2 billion (1.9%)
- Türkiye: $1.7 billion (1.6%)
- Russia: $1.4 billion (1.3%)
- United Kingdom: $1.3 billion (1.2%)
Fastest growers from 2018 to 2022 among these top suppliers to the United States were India (up 178%), Thailand (up 99.2%), Vietnam (up 97.2%), Mexico (up 86%) then South Korea (up 74.1%).
Russia was the sole decliner for imported US steel and iron plus related goods over the 5-year period, recording a -56.4% drop.
US Imports of Iron and Steel Materials
Focusing in on iron and steel metals reported as materials under HTS code 72, America bought $44.9 billion worth of iron and steel on global markets during 2022. That dollar amount reflects a 44.8% acceleration compared to $31 billion in 2018 and a 15.5% uptick from 2021 to 2022.
Below are the top 15 suppliers of iron and steel materials to the US for 2022. Collectively, they account for almost four-fifths (79.3%) of total US imports for these metals.
- Canada: US$9.86 billion (up 69.6% since 2018)
- Mexico: $5.6 billion (up 144.2%)
- Brazil: $4.3 billion (up 31.2%)
- South Korea: $2.76 billion (up 70.1%)
- Taiwan: $1.65 billion (up 96.5%)
- Germany: $1.64 billion (up 26.6%)
- Japan: $1.46 billion (up 20.8%)
- Russia: $1.3 billion (down -55.2%)
- Vietnam: $1.2 billion (up 53.9%)
- India: $1.16 billion (up 274.4%)
- China: $1.11 billion (up 57.6%)
- Netherlands: $997.9 million (up 51.4%)
- South Africa: $877.5 million (up 12.3%)
- Türkiye: $865.6 million (up 45.6%)
- Trinidad and Tobago: $839 million (up 41%)
The fastest growers among these top 15 suppliers expanded their sales of iron or steel as metals materials to the US from 2018 to 2022 were India (up 274.4%), Mexico (up 144.2%), Taiwan (up 96.5%), South Korea (up 70.1%), Canada (up 69.6%), mainland China (up 57.6%), Vietnam (up 53.9%) then the Netherlands (up 51.4%).
The lone decliner in supplying iron and steel metals to America over the 5-year period was the Russian Federation, pulled down by a -55.2% downtick.
US Imports of Products Made from Iron or Steel
As for actual products reported under HTS code 73, America imported $61.2 billion worth of products made from iron or steel in 2022. That dollar amount reflects a 41.8% increase from $43.1 billion during 2018 and a 27.6% year-on-year acceleration compared to $47.9 billion for 2021.
Below are America’s top 15 suppliers of products made from iron and steel. Collectively, these 15 countries generated 90.4% of all iron or steel items that the US imported during 2022.
- China: US$16.5 billion (26.9% of US imported items made from iron/steel)
- Mexico: $8.3 billion (13.5%)
- Canada: $5.8 billion (9.5%)
- Taiwan: $5.2 billion (8.6%)
- South Korea: $3.8 billion (6.2%)
- India: $3.5 billion (5.7%)
- Germany: $2.1 billion (3.4%)
- Japan: $1.92 billion (3.1%)
- Thailand: $1.84 billion (3%)
- Italy: $1.41 billion (2.3%)
- Vietnam: $1.41 billion (2.3%)
- Türkiye: $819.1 million (1.3%)
- Austria: $764.9 million (1.3%)
- Spain: $762.5 million (1.2%)
- United Kingdom: $587.3 million (1%)
The following top suppliers grew their sales to US importers at the fastest pace since 2018: Vietnam (up 159.2%), India (up 156%), Thailand (up 111%), Türkiye (up 96.7%) then South Korea (up 77.1%).
The most modest gains were realized by providers in Germany (up 2.9% from 2018) and Japan (up 5.7%).
Searchable List of US Overall Iron and Steel Suppliers
The table below shows the dollar amount for the top 100 iron and steel related suppliers for US importers in 2022. The dollar amount includes both materials and goods made from iron or steel.
Also shown is the percentage value change for each supplier since 2018.
| Rank | Supplier | Iron/Steel Imports | 2018-22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | $17,573,159,000 | +18.3% |
| 2 | Canada | $15,690,225,000 | +52.9% |
| 3 | Mexico | $13,866,882,000 | +86% |
| 4 | Taiwan | $6,882,391,000 | +69.3% |
| 5 | South Korea | $6,551,808,000 | +74.1% |
| 6 | Brazil | $4,674,553,000 | +33.5% |
| 7 | India | $4,620,923,000 | +178% |
| 8 | Germany | $3,694,483,000 | +12.2% |
| 9 | Japan | $3,385,255,000 | +11.8% |
| 10 | Vietnam | $2,608,263,000 | +97.2% |
| 11 | Italy | $2,156,708,000 | +25.7% |
| 12 | Thailand | $1,972,543,000 | +99.2% |
| 13 | Türkiye | $1,684,770,000 | +66.7% |
| 14 | Russia | $1,393,703,000 | -56.4% |
| 15 | United Kingdom | $1,286,461,000 | +31.9% |
| 16 | Netherlands | $1,234,947,000 | +43.9% |
| 17 | Austria | $1,149,142,000 | +32% |
| 18 | Spain | $1,084,379,000 | +43.4% |
| 19 | Sweden | $1,038,966,000 | +34.8% |
| 20 | Malaysia | $1,023,194,000 | +141% |
| 21 | France | $994,074,000 | +17.5% |
| 22 | South Africa | $961,856,000 | +10.3% |
| 23 | Trinidad/Tobago | $840,336,000 | +41.2% |
| 24 | Australia | $714,870,000 | +41.8% |
| 25 | Ukraine | $678,557,000 | -30.1% |
| 26 | United Arab Emirates | $669,692,000 | +135% |
| 27 | Romania | $615,894,000 | +112.5% |
| 28 | Kazakhstan | $596,833,000 | +161.1% |
| 29 | Belgium | $434,205,000 | +22.3% |
| 30 | Indonesia | $389,649,000 | +10.5% |
| 31 | Algeria | $386,713,000 | 0% |
| 32 | Czech Republic | $333,890,000 | +22.4% |
| 33 | Oman | $319,273,000 | +106.9% |
| 34 | Portugal | $315,449,000 | +157.9% |
| 35 | Norway | $294,574,000 | +49.6% |
| 36 | Finland | $290,429,000 | +43.7% |
| 37 | Poland | $265,917,000 | +71.5% |
| 38 | Georgia | $262,248,000 | +70.5% |
| 39 | Chile | $252,222,000 | +69.3% |
| 40 | Saudi Arabia | $249,970,000 | +103.8% |
| 41 | Switzerland | $245,315,000 | +11.6% |
| 42 | Argentina | $231,075,000 | -9.1% |
| 43 | Luxembourg | $194,603,000 | +22.5% |
| 44 | Israel | $166,734,000 | +72.8% |
| 45 | Colombia | $157,870,000 | +29.1% |
| 46 | Slovenia | $119,300,000 | +40.2% |
| 47 | Dominican Republic | $117,529,000 | -14.1% |
| 48 | Egypt | $114,502,000 | -0.4% |
| 49 | Denmark | $95,169,000 | +22.9% |
| 50 | Lithuania | $86,002,000 | +552.3% |
| 51 | Greece | $81,984,000 | -68.7% |
| 52 | Hungary | $73,694,000 | +270% |
| 53 | Philippines | $70,997,000 | -29.9% |
| 54 | Albania | $68,221,000 | +106.7% |
| 55 | Guatemala | $66,100,000 | -19.2% |
| 56 | Slovakia | $60,378,000 | +5.9% |
| 57 | Zimbabwe | $47,416,000 | -16.8% |
| 58 | New Caledonia | $41,720,000 | -19.9% |
| 59 | Singapore | $39,749,000 | +17.9% |
| 60 | North Macedonia | $38,122,000 | +151.1% |
| 61 | Iceland | $37,677,000 | +142.9% |
| 62 | Costa Rica | $37,324,000 | +07% |
| 63 | Pakistan | $35,131,000 | +62.4% |
| 64 | Serbia | $34,875,000 | -22.7% |
| 65 | New Zealand | $31,663,000 | -48.5% |
| 66 | Ireland | $31,238,000 | +70.8% |
| 67 | Bulgaria | $25,749,000 | -14.8% |
| 68 | Qatar | $23,883,000 | +77.1% |
| 69 | Belarus | $22,568,000 | -57.2% |
| 70 | Latvia | $13,871,000 | -44.3% |
| 71 | Hong Kong | $13,028,000 | -71.2% |
| 72 | Estonia | $11,736,000 | +397.7% |
| 73 | Honduras | $10,173,000 | +27% |
| 74 | Kenya | $9,560,000 | +21627% |
| 75 | Croatia | $7,380,000 | +68.6% |
| 76 | Paraguay | $5,272,000 | +40454% |
| 77 | Ecuador | $3,996,000 | +24.4% |
| 78 | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $3,898,000 | +119% |
| 79 | Peru | $3,491,000 | -84.4% |
| 80 | Tunisia | $3,172,000 | -78.5% |
| 81 | El Salvador | $2,794,000 | +8% |
| 82 | Venezuela | $2,606,000 | -93.8% |
| 83 | Zambia | $2,272,000 | +73.2% |
| 84 | Cayman Islands | $2,134,000 | +363.9% |
| 85 | Panama | $1,954,000 | -3.8% |
| 86 | Bahrain | $1,300,000 | -88.4% |
| 87 | Azerbaijan | $836,000 | +4300% |
| 88 | Curaçao | $476,000 | +139.2% |
| 89 | Haiti | $438,000 | -16.4% |
| 90 | Bahamas | $408,000 | -65.9% |
| 91 | Armenia | $393,000 | +9725% |
| 92 | Liberia | $246,000 | 0% |
| 93 | Guyana | $230,000 | +2200% |
| 94 | Saint Kitts/Nevis | $205,000 | -63.5% |
| 95 | Nicaragua | $189,000 | +6200% |
| 96 | Jamaica | $158,000 | -21% |
| 97 | Turks/Caicos Is | $113,000 | -57% |
| 98 | Barbados | $78,000 | -28.4% |
| 99 | Suriname | $75,000 | +44.2% |
| 100 | Bolivia | $72,000 | +28.6% |
You can change presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry of 0% means that 2018 data was unavailable.
See also United States Top 10 Imports, US Uranium Imports by Supplying Country, US Aluminum Imports by Supplying Country and US Imported Cars by Supplier Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 13, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 13, 2023
Mohawk Global Logistics, HTS Codes Affected by New Steel and Aluminum Tariffs by Danielle Leonard. Accessed on September 13, 2023
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on September 13, 2023
