The United States increased its imports of lithium-ion batteries from China steadily over the past six years.
The trend of these sales rose from $1.509 billion in 2018 to $16.458 billion in 2024.
As a result, China’s share of total imports of these storage batteries to the United States reached 69% in 2024.
Imports of lithium-ion batteries from China
The U.S. Department of Energy included lithium on its list of critical elements. The reason: its essential role in rechargeable batteries. These batteries, particularly lithium-ion batteries, dominate the market. They are also the preferred choice for uses requiring high energy density. These include electric vehicles and portable electronic devices.
The following is the trend of lithium-ion battery imports to the U.S. market from China, in millions of dollars, according to data from the Department of Commerce:
- 2018: 1,509.
- 2019: 1,858.
- 2020: 2,104.
- 2021: 4,520.
- 2022: 9,295.
- 2023: 13,217.
- 2024: 16,458.
Major suppliers
In 2009, lithium-ion batteries accounted for just 17% of total energy storage battery imports. However, the picture changed rapidly. By 2024, their share soared to 84 percent.
In addition to China, other prominent suppliers of these products to the U.S. market in 2024 were Japan, with a 7.4 percent share, followed by South Korea (5.6 percent), Hungary (4.2 percent) and Canada (3.2 percent).
These are the total imports of lithium-ion batteries to the U.S. market, in millions of dollars:
- 2018: 3,224.
- 2019: 3,691.
- 2020: 4,824.
- 2021: 8,259.
- 2022: 13,899.
- 2023: 18,750.
- 2024: 23,849.
An analysis of the U.S. Congress warns of a relevant trend: investments in cell assembly plants are on the rise. Several sources agree that this impulse responds to the growing consumer demand for batteries.
Moreover, data from Argonne National Laboratory, based on manufacturers’ investment announcements, confirm this projection. In fact, battery cell production capacity in the country is expected to grow steadily between 2018 and 2035. Everything points to the fact that this increase will be key to meeting the expanding national demand.