March 8, 2013
News Release 13-026
Inv. No. 332-528
Contact: Peg O'Laughlin, 202-205-1819

Because it is the world's largest market for new electronic products, the United States generates significant amounts of used electronic products, feeding a large used electronic product (UEP) market, reports the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) in its publication Used Electronic Products: An Examination of U.S. Exports.

The USITC estimates that in 2011, domestic sales of these products were valued at $19.2 billion and U.S. exports were valued at $1.45 billion, according to the report.

The USITC recently concluded the investigation for the U.S. Trade Representative. The report is based on data collected through a nationwide survey of 5,200 refurbishers, recyclers, brokers, information technology asset managers, and other handlers of used electronic products. It covers the year 2011 and focuses on audio and visual equipment, computers and peripheral equipment, digital imaging devices, telecommunication equipment, and component parts of these products.

The report provides an overview of the U.S. UEP industry, including information on domestic UEP collection, the share of goods that are refurbished compared to the share of goods that are recycled, and the characteristics of exported products. The report also provides information on the types of enterprises that export UEPs and those that import these products from the United States, and it examines the factors that affect trade in these products. Highlights of the report follow.

• UEPs are collected from consumers and businesses, then sorted by value. They are then either refurbished and resold as working electronic equipment, or they are disassembled into working parts or scrap commodities (metals, plastics, and glass) that are resold as manufacturing inputs in the United States and abroad.
• U.S. enterprises valued total domestic UEP sales at $19.2 billion in 2011, with U.S. exports totaling an additional $1.45 billion, or 7 percent of the enterprises' total sales.
• The top five destinations for U.S. UEP exports in 2011 were a group of Asia-Pacific countries (primarily Korea and Japan), Mexico, India, Hong Kong, and China, accounting for 74 percent of exports. Just over half of U.S. UEP exports were shipped to countries that are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
• Whole equipment for reuse accounted for the largest share of U.S. exports by value in 2011, and tested and working products represented the majority of U.S. exports of whole UEPs.
• Refurbishing and repair enterprises accounted for the largest share of U.S. exporters of UEPs by value, followed by enterprises involved in wholesaling, brokering, or retailing.
• Measured by end-use of the products, commodity materials intended for smelting or refining accounted for the largest share of U.S. exports by weight (43 percent) in 2011.
• U.S. regulations in place in 25 states generally reduce exports by requiring electronics manufacturers to collect used products for recycling. Industry certification programs also likely serve to limit U.S. exports of UEPs. In contrast, limited U.S. capacity to process UEPs in two segments of the industry cathode ray tube (CRT) glass and final smelting create incentives to export CRT monitors, CRT glass, and circuit boards destined for smelting to retrieve precious metals.
• In developing countries, demand for UEPs exported from the United States is strong, but the Basel Convention and some country regulations may limit such exports, since many developing countries agree not to import nonworking UEPs from OECD member countries.

Used Electronic Products: An Examination of U.S. Exports (Investigation No. 332-528, USITC Publication 4379, February 2013), will be available on the USITC's Internet site at http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4379.pdf. A CD-ROM of the report may be requested by emailing pubrequest@usitc.gov, calling 202-205-2000, or contacting the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436. Requests may also be faxed at 202-205-2104.

USITC general factfinding investigations, such as this one, cover matters related to tariffs or trade and are generally conducted at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative, the House Committee on Ways and Means, or the Senate Committee on Finance. The resulting reports convey the Commission's objective findings and independent analysis on the subject investigated. The Commission makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the USITC submits its findings and analyses to the requester. General factfinding investigations reports are subsequently released to the public, unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.