Clemson, S.C.—U.S. ceramic tile consumption in 2023 was 2.85 billion square feet, down 7.3% from the previous year, according to the Tile Council of North America (TCNA).
Imports
U.S. ceramic tile imports were at 2.00 billion square feet in 2023, an 8.4% decline from the prior year. Imports comprised 70.2% of 2023 U.S. tile consumption by volume, down from 71.1% in 2022.
India was the largest exporter by volume to the U.S. with a 20.3% share of U.S. imports, followed by Spain (17.4%) and Mexico (16.7%).
The five countries from which the most tiles were imported in 2023 based on volume were: India (42.6%); Spain -19.4%; Mexico -7.8%; Italy -20.5%; Brazil -18.6%.
What’s more, U.S. ceramic tile manufacturers, representing over 90% of all U.S. ceramic tile manufacturing, filed anti-dumping and countervailing duty petitions with the federal government seeking the imposition of substantial tariffs on imports of ceramic tile from India to remedy unfairly low-priced imports that have injured domestic manufacturers and flooded the market with uncertified porcelain tiles.
Specifically, the industry’s anti-dumping petition seeks the imposition of tariffs estimated between 408% to 828%, in response to ongoing massive and widespread dumping. The countervailing duty (or anti-subsidy) petition seeks the imposition of additional tariffs to remedy the impact of numerous Indian government subsidies—subsidies that have further injured domestic manufacturers.
U.S. Shipments
U.S. shipments (less exports) were 847.3 million sq. ft. in 2023, down 4.7% from the previous year.
By volume, U.S. shipments’ share of total U.S. consumption in 2023 was 29.8%, up from 28.9% the preceding year. Domestically produced tiles’ share of total U.S. consumption remained higher than the shares of any individual country exporting to the U.S.; the next highest shares of total consumption by volume belonged to India (14.2%), Spain (12.2%), and Mexico (11.8%).
U.S. FOB factory sales of domestic shipments (less exports) in 2023 were $1.50 billion, a 1.7% increase from the prior year. U.S. shipments comprised 36.9% of total U.S. tile consumption by value, up from 33.4% in 2022.
The per unit value of domestic shipments (less exports) in 2023 was $1.77/sq. ft., up from $1.66/sq. ft. in 2022.
U.S. Exports
U.S. ceramic tile exports in 2023 were 51.0 million sq. ft., up 0.5% from the previous year and the highest total on record. The vast majority of these exports went to Canada (65.8%) and Mexico (19.7%).
U.S. exports by value in 2023 were $53.3 million, up 1.4% from 2022.