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Taken alone, U.S. manufacturing would rank as the eighth-largest economy in the world. The U.S. remains the second-largest manufacturing nation globally behind China and continues to be one of the world’s leading exporters of manufactured goods.
Global manufacturing & trade
The U.S. accounts for roughly 16–17% of global manufacturing output, second only to China, which produces approximately 31% of the world’s manufacturing output.
Despite increasing international competition, U.S. manufacturing exports remain historically strong. In fact, exports of manufactured goods grew from approximately $329.5bn in 1990 to more than $1.7tn in 2025, a new record. [source: U.S. Census Bureau].
North America
North America remains the United States’ most important export market for manufactured goods.
- Canada imported approximately $336.5 worth of U.S. manufactured products in 2025. [source: U.S. Census Bureau].
- Exports to Mexico reached roughly $337.9bn in 2025, continuing Mexico’s rise as a critical manufacturing trade partner. [source: U.S. Census Bureau].
China
Manufactured products continue to account for the largest share of U.S. exports to China, including machinery, electronics, aerospace products, vehicles and chemicals. However, trade tensions and tariffs have significantly reshaped trade flows between the two countries over the past several years.
Tariffs introduced during the U.S.-China trade dispute contributed to declining trade volumes, higher costs for manufacturers and consumers, supply-chain disruption and slower manufacturing growth. Some industry analyses suggest that under a full tariff-escalation scenario, U.S. imports from China could decline dramatically.
Output & Economic Contribution
U.S. manufacturing remains one of the country’s largest economic sectors.
In 2025, U.S. manufacturing value added reached an annual rate of approximately $2.96tn, accounting for around 9.4% of total GDP, highlighting the sector’s continued importance to the national economy. [source: Bureau of Economic Analysis].
While overall manufacturing output continues to grow in absolute terms, manufacturing’s share of the wider U.S. economy has gradually declined over several decades as the service sector has expanded more rapidly.
Employment
Manufacturing remains one of the largest private-sector employers in the United States.
The U.S. manufacturing sector employed approximately 12.6m workers in April 2026, representing around 9% of total U.S. employment. [source: Bureau of Labor Statistics].
Manufacturing jobs also remain among some of the highest-paying in the economy. In 2025, average annual pay for U.S. manufacturing workers was approximately $75,000 before benefits, with total compensation exceeding $100,000 when benefits and overtime are included. [source: Bureau of Labor Statistics].
However, the industry continues to face significant workforce pressures. NAM estimates that 3.8 million manufacturing positions could open by 2033, with nearly half potentially going unfilled due to labour shortages, retirements and skills gaps. [source: National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)].
U.S. manufacturing business landscape
The overwhelming majority of U.S. manufacturers are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Of the approximately 239,000 manufacturing establishments operating in the U.S., around three-quarters employ fewer than 20 workers, while roughly 98% employ fewer than 500 people. [source: National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)].
These smaller manufacturers play a vital role in regional economies and supply chains but often face greater challenges related to inflation, workforce shortages, financing and digital transformation.
Investment & innovation
Manufacturing remains the single largest driver of private-sector research and development (R&D) in the United States.
U.S. manufacturing organisations perform approximately 52% of all private-sector research and development in the United States, more than any other sector. [source: National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)]. According to NAM, every $1 invested in manufacturing generates approximately $2.69 in additional economic activity across the broader economy.
Future growth sectors for U.S. manufacturing
Semiconductors & microelectronics
The CHIPS and Science Act has triggered hundreds of billions of dollars in semiconductor investment across the United States. Industry projections suggest the U.S. could produce 20–28% of the world’s advanced logic chips by the early 2030s.
Major investments include Intel’s planned $100bn semiconductor expansion in Ohio and Samsung’s multibillion-dollar semiconductor facility in Texas.
Clean energy manufacturing
Federal incentives introduced through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are accelerating domestic production of:
- Batteries
- Solar panels
- Electric vehicle components
- Hydrogen technologies
- Charging infrastructure
Energy storage and solar manufacturing capacity are expected to expand rapidly throughout the remainder of the decade, supporting hundreds of thousands of new jobs across advanced manufacturing and clean energy supply chains.
