Four federal programs track 40,670 chemicals. For 39,016 of them, it cannot tell you whether anyone in America makes them.
L-Ascorbic acid - CAS 50-81-7
Vitamin C goes into hospital IV nutrition and prenatal vitamins. America makes none of it. EPA records show zero US production.
Last year the United States imported $190M worth. 73% came from a single country. If that supply stops, no domestic factory can fill the gap.
Of 40,670 chemicals tracked under four federal programs, 39,016 have no published source country or import share. For 6,034, companies classify production volumes as trade secrets.
Import records are public. Production records are not.
Each square = 1% of tracked chemicals. Gold = supply data known.
Of the 4,671 chemicals with trade data, 688 have zero US production. China is the primary source for 1,623.
The United States makes no caffeine, no sucralose, and no Vitamin C, as you just saw.
Primary import source country for 4,671 chemicals with trade data.
When cisplatin ran short in 2023, hospitals rationed chemotherapy doses. Oncologists decided which patients received full treatment.
3,834 chemicals
For 3,733, the government publishes no supply data. 72 drugs remain on the FDA shortage list.
66 chemicals
For 47, the government publishes no supply data.
244 chemicals
For 226, the government publishes no supply data.
776 chemicals
For 676, the government publishes no supply data.
Pick a sector. See what's at risk.
The active ingredients in your medications. Blood pressure pills, antibiotics, pain relief, anesthetics. Nearly all APIs are imported.
Energetics, propellants, specialty coatings, and the chemistry inside guided electronics. Most of it is made abroad.
Pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer precursors. A spring planting can hinge on drums of herbicide arriving.
Flavorings, preservatives, and processing aids that turn raw ingredients into shelf-stable food. A packaged loaf stays soft because preservatives and processing aids work.
Battery electrolytes, transformer fluids, solar cell chemicals, and grid-critical materials. A battery plant needs imported salts before its first cell ships.
Disinfection, fluoridation, and treatment chemicals. Your tap water reaches the glass only after treatment chemistry works.
Semiconductor etchants, PCB chemicals, and battery materials. A cleanroom can stall when one etchant misses the loading dock.
Automotive and aerospace chemistry: tires, paints, alloys, adhesives. A truck tire rolls on additives the driver never sees.
Cement, adhesives, sealants, asphalt, and wood-product chemistry. A road crew pours additives and sealants before traffic arrives.
Flotation agents, alloys, platers, and pickling acids. Before ore becomes wire, pickling acid cleans the metal.
Monomers, plasticizers, UV stabilizers, and tire chemistry. The milk jug, phone case, and delivery pallet all need polymer feedstocks before they exist.
Dyes, pigments, finishing agents, and synthetic-fiber chemistry. The color in a school uniform comes from chemistry most shoppers never touch.
Surfactants, bleaches, fragrances, and household chemistry. Under the sink, surfactants make the cleaner foam.
Pigments, solvents, and paint additives. A bridge coating cannot fight rust until solvents and pigments arrive.
Bleaches, pulp chemistry, inks, and printing pigments. A shipping label needs whitening agents, ink pigments, and adhesive chemistry before the box moves.
Acids, bases, solvents, and salts that feed every other sector. When a solvent shipment misses, a factory line waits.
Each arc is one country's chemical exports to the US, drawn from Census customs data covering 4,671 chemicals. Pick a country to see what it ships.
Primary source ranks countries by the chemicals they lead in supplying. Import $ is an upper-bound estimate because chemicals sharing a customs code can over-count the same import basket.