Manufacturing Independence Index
The Manufacturing Independence Index (MII) measures America's capacity to produce essential goods domestically. In a world of increasing geopolitical uncertainty, understanding our manufacturing self-sufficiency isn't just an economic concern—it's a national security imperative. This index provides policymakers, industry leaders, and citizens with a clear metric to track progress toward greater industrial resilience.
Current Index Score
48
This score represents America's overall manufacturing independence on a scale of 0-100. A higher score indicates greater domestic production capacity, supply chain resilience, and workforce readiness across critical industries. The current score reflects significant vulnerabilities in semiconductor manufacturing and rare earth processing, partially offset by strength in aerospace production and heavy machinery.
Raw Materials (Score: 43)
This component measures our ability to source critical minerals and materials domestically, as a foundation for manufacturing capability, e.g. rare earth elements used in electronics to lithium for batteries. Graphite, manganese, and rare earth elements are all heavily imported, for example.
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Manufacturing Readiness (Score: 41)
This component measures the human element of manufacturing independence: workforce availability, technical capabilities, operational readiness, and domestic value creation. It tracks vocational training, automation adoption, capacity utilization, and the percentage of a product's value truly generated within US borders.
Strategic Goods (Score: 50)
This component assesses America's capacity to manufacture finished products across crucial sectors, tracking production coverage ratios in aerospace, transportation, energy, electronics, medical equipment, and industrial essentials. Vulnerabilities persist in semiconductor fabrication, battery production, among others.​​​
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Methodology (Score: 51)
The MII combines the four weighted sub-indices into a composite score summarizing America's manufacturing independence. Each component is calculated using standardized formulas applied to data from government agencies, industry associations, and company disclosures. We factor industry or material importance​​​​​​
into our calculations.
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Supply Chain (Score: 38)
Even with domestic final assembly, manufacturing independence requires robust supply networks. Here we evaluate subcomponent self-sufficiency, supplier diversity, logistics independence, and inventory stockpiling. Lower scores here indicate hidden vulnerabilities where seemingly "Made in America" products depend on overseas parts and materials, creating chokepoints during disruptions.
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Updates/News
Stay current with the latest MII developments. This section features quarterly index updates, analysis of significant movements in component scores, and insights into policy or industry changes affecting manufacturing independence. We track emerging trends, highlight success stories in reshoring, and identify persistent or new vulnerabilities requiring attention. This feed provides context behind the numbers for those who want to understand the deeper dynamics shaping America's industrial capacity.
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Data Explorer
(in progress)
Dive deeper into the numbers that power the Manufacturing Independence Index. This interactive tool allows you to explore historical trends, compare sub-indices, and examine specific sectors or materials of interest. Visualize changes over time, identify correlations between different components, and generate custom reports focused on your areas of concern. For researchers, policymakers, and industry specialists looking to conduct more detailed analysis, the Data Explorer provides access to the underlying metrics that drive our headline scores.