Measuring trade flows of sintered NdFeB magnets and Li-ion batteries: reported vs. embedded US imports

Abstract

Sintered neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets and lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are essential in a number of clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles and wind turbines. The United States (US) has some manufacturing capacity for Li-ion batteries and almost no capacity for producing sintered NdFeB magnets. As a result, the US imports significant quantities of these batteries and magnets. Trade statistics on imported batteries and magnets, however, include only those materials imported in the form of batteries and magnets (referred to here as reported imports) and exclude materials embedded in intermediate and final products such as hard disk drives, electric motors, electric vehicles, and wind turbines (referred to here as embedded imports). This paper develops original estimates of embedded imports of NdFeB magnets and Li-ion batteries, leading to a more complete picture of US imports than looking at reported imports alone. It estimates that more than 90% of NdFeB magnet imports were embedded in intermediate and final products in 2021. In contrast, more than 90% of Li-ion battery imports were in the form of the batteries themselves rather than embedded in intermediate and final products.