For Immediate Release: March 7, 2007
Invest in America
Inward Direct Investment Fact Sheet
Promotes Employment with High Wages:1
- U.S. subsidiaries of foreign firms employ5.1 million American workers, support an annual payroll of $324.5 billion, and pay on average 32 percent higher wages than the national average.
- These U.S. subsidiaries invest heavily in American manufacturing, with 31 percent of these jobs in this sector.
Strong Economic Benefits to the U.S. Economy:
- U.S. subsidiaries of foreign firms account for 19 percent of total U.S. exports of goods($153.9 billion), and in 2006 reinvested $80.3 billion of their profits back into the U.S. economy.
- U.S. subsidiaries also spent $29.9 billion on research and development activities in the United States.
Who Invests in the United States:2
- Foreign companies based in OECD countries account for 94 percent of cumulative foreign direct investment in the United States.
- The top 5 countries, ranked by cumulative direct investment in the United States were: The United Kingdom - $282.5 billion; Japan - $190.3 billion; Germany - $184.2 billion; The Netherlands - $170.8 billion; Canada - $144.0 billion.
Total Inward Investment:3
- The cumulative value of inward direct investment at the end of 2005 was $1.874 trillion.
- In 2006, direct investment capital inflows totaled $183.6 billion.
- 2005 direct investment capital inflows totaled $109.8 billion; 2004 capital inflows totaled $133.2 billion; 2003 capital inflows totaled $64.0 billion.
Recent Examples of Investing in America:
- On February 27, Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. announced that it would build a new manufacturing facility near Tupelo, MS. This $1.3 billion facility is expected to employ 2,000 initially. In 2005, Toyota employed 38,340 in North America.4
- On January 22, AstraZeneca announced it would invest $100 million into its U.S. research and development team based in Waltham, MA. This will bring total research employment at this site to 500, with a focus on anti-infection and cancer treatments.5
Promoting America as the Investment Destination of Choice:
- The Invest in America initiative promotes the desirability of investment in the U.S. as a whole by highlighting the advantages of investing in the U.S., and countering the misconceptions some investors may have.
- The initiative will focus on outreach to the international investment community; coordination with state and local governments engaged in foreign investment promotion; and work as ombudsman in Washington, DC policy community to address business climate concerns.
The initiative will also include the creation of a task force within the International Trade Administration charged with the responsibility of educating and coordinating the efforts of the 2,300 ITA employees in offices around the world on inward investment.
1Unless otherwise noted, source: BEA data with analysis from the Organization for International Investment (www.ofii.org)
2 Source: BEA (figures at historical cost)
3 Source: BEA (figures at current cost)
4 Source: The Clarion-Ledger Newspaper (www.clarionledger.com)
5 Source: The Financial Times (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/97f13a30-a9bc-11db-9185-0000779e2340.html)