The total value of US iron and steel imports registered a 27.9% increase since 2017. From 2020 to 2021, America’s purchases of iron and steel materials plus products accelerated by 58.6%.
Drilling down from that overall dollar metric, American importers spent 55.3% ($48 billion) on imported products made from iron or steel. In comparison, 44.8% ($18.8 billion) was earmarked for importing iron or steel as metal materials.
Among countries, the People’s Republic of China furnished almost a fifth (18.4%) of America’s overall spending on iron and steel-related imports ahead of Canada at 16.1% and Mexico at 13.9%.
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 2021 collected $73.9 billion worth of sales to the United States during 2021, or 84.6% of America’s overall total.
Another metric indicating the concentration of US iron and steel suppliers is that the top 5 providers below accounted for almost three-fifths (58.3%) of the overall value for America’s imports of iron and steel.
- China: US$16 billion (18.4% of US iron/steel imports)
- Canada: $14 billion (16.1%)
- Mexico: $11.2 billion (12.9%)
- Taiwan: $5 billion (5.7%)
- Brazil: $4.44 billion (5.1%)
- South Korea: $4.42 billion (5.1%)
- Russia: $2.9 billion (3.4%)
- India: $2.8 billion (3.22%)
- Japan: $2.78 billion (3.2%)
- Germany: $2.7 billion (3.12%)
- Vietnam: $2 billion (2.3%)
- Italy: $1.36 billion (1.57%)
- Thailand: $1.35 billion (1.56%)
- Turkey: $1.93 billion (1.46%)
- Ukraine: $1.16 billion (1.34%)
Fastest growers from 2017 to 2021 among these top suppliers were Vietnam (up 125.3%), Ukraine (up 82.2%), Mexico (up 78.7%), Canada (up 51.8%), India (up 48.6%), Thailand (up 38%) then Brazil (up 36.4%).
There were 4 top decliners for imported US steel and iron plus related goods over the 5-year period were Italy (down -15.2%), Turkey (down -11.7%), Japan (down -9.7%) and Germany (down -9%).
US Imports of Iron and Steel Materials
Shifting our attention to iron and steel metals reported as materials under HTS code 72, America bought $38.9 billion worth of iron and steel on global markets during 2021. That dollar amount reflects a 35% acceleration from 2017 and a 106.9% uptick from 2020 to 2021.
In addition, America incurred a -$20.3 billion deficit from importing and exporting iron and steel materials in 2021. That product deficit expanded by 60.1% from -$12.7 billion in red ink in 2017 and swelled by 213% from 2020 to 2021.
Below are the top 15 suppliers of iron and steel materials to the US for 2021. Collectively, they account for over four-fifths (83%) of total US imports for these metals.
- Canada: US$9.1 billion (up 72.7% since 2017)
- Mexico: $4.7 billion (up 160.7%)
- Brazil: $4.2 billion (up 43%)
- Russia: $2.8 billion (up 4.3%)
- South Korea: $2.1 billion (up 48.3%)
- Taiwan: $1.3 billion (up 23.3%)
- Japan: $1.2 billion (down -10.4%)
- Germany: $1.1 billion (down -13%)
- Ukraine: $1.02 billion (up 80.7%)
- Vietnam: $990 million (up 109.2%)
- Turkey: $846.1 million (down -23.9%)
- Netherlands: $812.8 million (up 34.3%)
- Trinidad and Tobago: $808.7 million (up 50.6%)
- India: $713.5 million (up 65%)
- South Africa: $641.7 million (down 32.7%)
The fastest growers among these top 15 suppliers expanded their sales of iron or steel as metals materials to the US from 2017 to 2021 were Mexico (up 160.7%), Vietnam (up 109.2%), Ukraine (up 80.7%), Canada (up 72.7%), India (up 65%), Trinidad and Tobago (up 50.6%) then South Korea (up 48.3%).
There were 4 leading decliners over the 5-year period namely South Africa (down -32.7%), Turkey (down -23.9%), Germany (down -13%) and Japan (down -10.4%).
US Imports of Products Made from Iron or Steel
As for actual products reported under HTS code 73, America imported $48 billion worth of products made from iron or steel in 2021. That dollar amount reflects a 22.7% increase since 2017 and a 33.4% uptick from 2020 to 2021.
From a trade balance perspective, America incurred a -$28.8 billion deficit from importing and exporting goods made from iron and steel during 2021. That product deficit increased by 39.1% from -$20 billion in red ink during 2017 and swelled by 44% from 2020 to 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 2021.
- China: US$15.4 billion (32.1% of US imported items made from iron/steel)
- Mexico: $6.6 billion (13.7%)
- Canada: $4.9 billion (10.2%)
- Taiwan: $3.7 billion (7.8%)
- South Korea: $2.3 billion (4.9%)
- India: $2.1 billion (4.3%)
- Germany: $1.61 billion (3.4%)
- Japan: $1.57 billion (3.3%)
- Thailand: $1.25 billion (2.6%)
- Vietnam: $1.03 billion (2.2%)
- Italy: $945.4 million (2%)
- United Kingdom: $550.4 million (1.1%)
- Spain: $501.5 million (1%)
- Malaysia: $483.6 million (1%)
- Austria: $428.4 million (0.9%)
The following top suppliers grew their sales to US importers at the fastest pace since 2017: Malaysia (up 143.4%), Vietnam (up 143.1%), Thailand (up 54.6%), India (up 43.7%) then Taiwan (up 32.9%).
There were 4 decliners selling goods made from iron or steel over the 5-year period: South Korea (down -10.3%), Japan (down -9.2%), Italy (down -8.7%) and Germany (down -6%).
Searchable List of US Overall Iron and Steel Suppliers
The table below shows the dollar amount for the top 100 iron and steel related suppliers for US importers in 2021. The dollar amount includes both materials and goods made from iron or steel.
Also shown is the percentage value change for each supplier since 2017.
| Rank | Supplier | Iron/Steel Imports (US$) | 2017-21 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | $15,999,223,000 | +21.6% |
| 2 | Canada | $14,024,820,000 | +51.8% |
| 3 | Mexico | $11,232,319,000 | +78.7% |
| 4 | Taiwan | $4,996,692,000 | +30.3% |
| 5 | Brazil | $4,443,446,000 | +36.4% |
| 6 | South Korea | $4,420,992,000 | +10.2% |
| 7 | Russia | $2,918,484,000 | +2.9% |
| 8 | India | $2,797,730,000 | +48.6% |
| 9 | Japan | $2,776,847,000 | -9.7% |
| 10 | Germany | $2,713,461,000 | -9% |
| 11 | Vietnam | $2,023,823,000 | +125.3% |
| 12 | Italy | $1,363,099,000 | -15.2% |
| 13 | Thailand | $1,354,186,000 | +38% |
| 14 | Turkey | $1,266,131,000 | -11.7% |
| 15 | Ukraine | $1,161,905,000 | +82.2% |
| 16 | United Kingdom | $1,102,891,000 | +4.5% |
| 17 | Netherlands | $1,032,251,000 | +27.4% |
| 18 | Trinidad/Tobago | $809,080,000 | +50.6% |
| 19 | France | $731,541,000 | -11% |
| 20 | Austria | $717,538,000 | +9.8% |
| 21 | Sweden | $694,097,000 | -5.1% |
| 22 | South Africa | $680,823,000 | -34.9% |
| 23 | Spain | $674,111,000 | -12.5% |
| 24 | Malaysia | $646,606,000 | +97.1% |
| 25 | Australia | $533,874,000 | +25.7% |
| 26 | United Arab Emirates | $431,703,000 | +35% |
| 27 | Romania | $348,178,000 | +153.5% |
| 28 | Indonesia | $290,941,000 | +47.1% |
| 29 | Argentina | $273,639,000 | +3.3% |
| 30 | Belgium | $268,993,000 | +5.9% |
| 31 | Kazakhstan | $262,169,000 | +18.5% |
| 32 | Finland | $251,319,000 | +14.9% |
| 33 | Chile | $245,363,000 | +354.1% |
| 34 | Algeria | $237,672,000 | 0 |
| 35 | Poland | $225,063,000 | +62.2% |
| 36 | Norway | $221,465,000 | +19.6% |
| 37 | Czech Republic | $216,881,000 | -24.9% |
| 38 | Egypt | $209,808,000 | +74.1% |
| 39 | Switzerland | $209,609,000 | +5.1% |
| 40 | Oman | $193,786,000 | +102.6% |
| 41 | Portugal | $176,442,000 | +4.3% |
| 42 | Israel | $148,510,000 | +65% |
| 43 | Georgia | $132,221,000 | +38% |
| 44 | Luxembourg | $127,054,000 | -37.8% |
| 45 | Colombia | $115,617,000 | +18.2% |
| 46 | Dominican Republic | $110,085,000 | +36.5% |
| 47 | Saudi Arabia | $103,564,000 | -7.2% |
| 48 | Denmark | $88,016,000 | +24.4% |
| 49 | Guatemala | $82,063,000 | -12% |
| 50 | Slovenia | $75,119,000 | -11.7% |
| 51 | North Macedonia | $52,494,000 | +522% |
| 52 | Pakistan | $51,238,000 | +95.6% |
| 53 | Slovakia | $45,302,000 | -28.7% |
| 54 | Lithuania | $44,697,000 | +453.6% |
| 55 | New Caledonia | $42,116,000 | -34.2% |
| 56 | New Zealand | $40,195,000 | -2.8% |
| 57 | Singapore | $38,156,000 | +27.4% |
| 58 | Costa Rica | $31,786,000 | -28.3% |
| 59 | Greece | $30,483,000 | -42.5% |
| 60 | Belarus | $29,780,000 | -22.9% |
| 61 | Hungary | $26,683,000 | +69.6% |
| 62 | Serbia | $26,000,000 | -5.1% |
| 63 | Ireland | $24,212,000 | +35.9% |
| 64 | Iceland | $14,805,000 | -33.1% |
| 65 | Latvia | $12,692,000 | +43.1% |
| 66 | Hong Kong | $12,626,000 | -69.4% |
| 67 | Honduras | $10,941,000 | +63.3% |
| 68 | Albania | $8,030,000 | -41.5% |
| 69 | Estonia | $6,354,000 | +85.5% |
| 70 | Ecuador | $4,528,000 | +93.4% |
| 71 | Peru | $3,565,000 | -85.8% |
| 72 | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $2,233,000 | -25.1% |
| 73 | Zambia | $2,053,000 | 0 |
| 74 | Cayman Islands | $1,681,000 | +319.2% |
| 75 | Panama | $1,543,000 | +154.2% |
| 76 | Venezuela | $1,463,000 | -93.9% |
| 77 | Morocco | $1,203,000 | -92.7% |
| 78 | Azerbaijan | $1,100,000 | 0 |
| 79 | Kenya | $1,069,000 | +373% |
| 80 | Bahrain | $494,000 | -98.8% |
| 81 | Haiti | $471,000 | -21.4% |
| 82 | Curaçao | $436,000 | +22.5% |
| 83 | Bahamas | $372,000 | -70.8% |
| 84 | Bolivia | $320,000 | +148.1% |
| 85 | Jamaica | $287,000 | -18.7% |
| 86 | Saint Kitts/Nevis | $284,000 | +1929% |
| 87 | Moldova | $232,000 | +700% |
| 88 | Bulgaria | $164,000 | +23.3% |
| 89 | Togo | $97,000 | 0 |
| 90 | Uruguay | $93,000 | +12% |
| 91 | Suriname | $63,000 | +231.6% |
| 92 | Barbados | $52,000 | 0 |
| 93 | El Salvador | $41,000 | -96.7% |
| 94 | Anguilla | $28,000 | 0 |
| 95 | British Virgin Is | $22,000 | -91.1% |
| 96 | Bermuda | $19,000 | -92.2% |
| 97 | Turks/Caicos Is | $17,000 | -71.2% |
| 98 | Sri Lanka | $7,000 | 0% |
| 99 | Tunisia | $7,000 | -98.9% |
| 100 | Croatia | $6,000 | -78.6% |
You can change presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry of 0% means that 2017 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 April 12, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 12, 2022
Mohawk Global Logistics, HTS Codes Affected by New Steel and Aluminum Tariffs by Danielle Leonard. Accessed on April 12, 2022
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on April 12, 2022
