Rank figure, American (6)
I believe the answer is:
status
'rank' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'figure american' is the wordplay.
'figure' becomes 'stat' (statistic).
'american' becomes 'US' (United States).
'stat'+'us'='STATUS'
(Other definitions for status that I've seen before include "Position in organisation or in society" , "Standing, condition, position" , "Position eg in society" , "Place in pecking-order" , "and 9: Existing state of affairs" .)