America’s
Carbon Advantage
U.S. manufacturers across industries are highly carbon efficient compared to most overseas. As a result, America makes goods with far fewer emissions than almost any country in the world.
We call this a carbon advantage.
The red area below shows just how overwhelming this advantage is.
Click on the table to see the advantage across all sectors.
U.S. Carbon Advantage Over Key
Trading Partners By Sector
| ↔ | ↔USA | ↔Brazil | ↔Canada | ↔China | ↔EU | ↔India | ↔Mexico | ↔Russia | ↔World |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemicals and pharma products | 1.0 | 0.9x | 1.5x | 2.6x | 0.8x | 2.1x | 1.2x | 5.5x | 1.6x |
| Rubber and plastic products | 1.0 | 0.9x | 1.0x | 2.7x | 0.7x | 2.1x | 1.1x | 2.9x | 2.0x |
| Basic metals | 1.0 | 1.3x | 1.0x | 1.8x | 0.9x | 2.7x | 0.7x | 3.7x | 1.5x |
| Fabricated metal products | 1.0 | 1.3x | 0.9x | 3.1x | 0.9x | 6.1x | 1.4x | 4.8x | 1.8x |
| Computer, electronic & optical products | 1.0 | 2.5x | 2.3x | 5.7x | 2.1x | 8.0x | 3.4x | 7.4x | 4.0x |
| Electrical equipment | 1.0 | 1.5x | 1.2x | 3.1x | 1.0x | 3.9x | 1.4x | 4.8x | 2.2x |
| Machinery & equipment | 1.0 | 1.0x | 0.9x | 2.8x | 0.8x | 4.0x | 1.2x | 4.5x | 1.8x |
| Motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers | 1.0 | 1.2x | 0.9x | 2.4x | 0.7x | 3.5x | 1.0x | 3.6x | 1.3x |
| Agriculture, forestry, and fishing | 1.0 | 1.2x | 1.4x | 1.2x | 1.2x | 0.9x | 1.6x | 1.8x | 1.0x |
| Mining and extraction of energy producing products | 1.0 | 1.1x | 1.6x | 2.2x | 0.9x | 5.9x | 1.5x | 2.2x | 1.3x |
| Mining and quarrying of non-energy producing products | 1.0 | 0.6x | 1.6x | 2.2x | 0.8x | 4.7x | 1.0x | 3.2x | 1.4x |
| Mining support service activities | 1.0 | 1.8x | 1.5x | 5.2x | 1.9x | 2.5x | 1.6x | 4.2x | 1.9x |
| Food products, beverages & tobacco | 1.0 | 1.0x | 1.0x | 1.4x | 0.8x | 1.5x | 0.9x | 1.8x | 1.1x |
| Textiles, wearing apparel, leather and related products | 1.0 | 0.8x | 1.0x | 1.8x | 0.8x | 2.3x | 1.1x | 1.9x | 1.5x |
| Wood & products of wood & cork | 1.0 | 1.0x | 1.3x | 1.8x | 0.9x | 3.7x | 1.7x | 2.9x | 1.4x |
| Paper products and printing | 1.0 | 0.9x | 1.0x | 1.7x | 0.8x | 2.3x | 1.1x | 2.4x | 1.2x |
| Coke and refined petroleum products | 1.0 | 0.9x | 1.3x | 1.6x | 1.3x | 1.8x | 1.9x | 1.7x | 1.3x |
| Other non-metallic mineral products | 1.0 | 0.7x | 0.9x | 1.6x | 1.0x | 2.5x | 0.9x | 2.7x | 1.3x |
| Other transport equipment | 1.0 | 1.3x | 0.9x | 2.8x | 0.8x | 3.5x | 1.3x | 3.2x | 1.5x |
| Other manufacturing; repair and installation of machinery & equipment | 1.0 | 1.0x | 1.0x | 2.8x | 0.7x | 4.2x | 1.7x | 4.1x | 1.9x |
| Economy-Wide | 1.0 | 1.1x | 1.3x | 3.2x | 0.9x | 3.8x | 1.4x | 4.2x | 1.8x |
U.S. Carbon Advantage (foreign competitors less carbon efficient)
U.S. Carbon Disadvantage (foreign competitors more carbon efficient)
U.S. Carbon Efficiency or Equivalent
Source: MarcoDyn Group calculations based on data from the International Energy Agency, the World Input-Output Database environmental accounts and the Global Trade Analysis Project.
America has everything to gain
from unlocking our carbon advantage.
Today, the U.S. imports many goods made with high levels of carbon emissions, at a cost to American manufacturers and the environment.
This is no way to address climate change. And it’s no way to win the 21st century.
U.S. climate policy should reward more efficient U.S. manufacturers and penalize high carbon polluting imports. Nearly every U.S. sector enjoys a carbon advantage over most of our key trading partners.
The U.S. economy is 3x more carbon-efficient than that of China and nearly 4x as efficient as India. This is an enormous strength of our economy.