Manufacturing Woes: Reshoring Index Plummets

Reflecting a reality that could have a big impact on retailers seeking to keep their shelved stocks as President Trump’s tariffs kick in, imports from 14 Asian low-cost countries and regions (LCCRs) grew faster than U.S. domestic manufacturing gross output.  That situation was reported in management consultant Kearney’s just-released Reshoring Index for 2025.

“This year’s Reshoring Index report reveals a hard truth,” said Kearney partner and study co-author Patrick Van den Bossche. “While CEOs are more committed than ever to reshoring, the U.S. domestic manufacturing ecosystem is still playing catch-up. The next phase will require not just capital, but coordination.”

Launched in 2013, the Kearney Reshoring Index tracks the extent to which America is bringing manufacturing back from the LCCRs that have benefitted for decades from the offshoring of U.S. manufacturing operations.

Some other findings from the index:

• America’s manufacturing/import ratio increased by 9%, back to pre-COVID levels, as imports from the Asian LCCRs grew faster than U.S. domestic manufacturing gross output. That caused the index to decline by 311 basis points.
• U.S. manufacturing output expanded by just 1%, despite continued capital investment in recent years. This modest growth reflects the longer-than-expected lag between investment announcements and operational capacity coming online.
• Canada and Mexico also struggled to keep pace with their recent historical performances. U.S imports growth from Mexico trailed the boom of the previous two years, while Canada recorded a year-over-year contraction in its exports to the US.

The Reshoring Index is determined by dividing the import of manufactured goods from the Asian LCCRs by the U.S. domestic gross manufacturing output to calculate a manufacturing import ratio (MIR). The Reshoring Index reflects the year-on-year change in the MIR.

Click here for more from the latest index.