Foreign Direct Investment Fact Sheet
Promoting America as the Investment Destination of Choice:
- Invest in America supports President Bush’s statement on open investment that reaffirms the unequivocal and long-standing commitment by the United States to promote open investment policies.
- Invest in America will help coordinate U.S. Government agencies to promote the desirability of investment in the U.S. as a whole and leverage Commerce’s global network to educate international investors on advantages inherent with investing in the United States.
- Invest in America efforts are focused on outreach to foreign governments, investors, and U.S. states; and addressing business climate concerns by serving as ombudsman in Washington for the international investment community.
FDI Promotes Employment with High Wages: 1
- U.S. subsidiaries of foreign firms employover 5 million American workers, support an annual payroll of $335.9 billion, and pay on average 32 percent higher wages than the national average.
- Between 2002-2006, nearly 2,900 new projects were announced or opened in the U.S. by foreign companies, yielding $82 billion in investment and approximately 170,000 new American jobs.
FDI Brings 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($169.2 billion), and in 2006 reinvested $65.4 billion of their profits back into the U.S. economy.
- U.S. subsidiaries also spent nearly $32 billion on research and development activities in the United States.
Who Invests in the United States: 2
- Companies based in OECD countries account for 93 percent of cumulative foreign direct investment in the U.S.
- Europe accounted for 70 percent of capital flows of foreign direct investment in the United States in 2006.
- The top 5 countries, ranked by cumulative direct investment in the United States were: United Kingdom - $303.2 billion; Japan - $211.0 billion; Germany - $202.6 billion; The Netherlands - $189.3 billion; Canada - $159.0 billion.
Total Foreign Direct Investment: 3
- The cumulative value of foreign direct investment at the end of 2006 was $1.789 trillion, or 13.5 percent of U.S. GDP.
- In 2006, direct investment capital inflows totaled $175.4 billion. 2005 direct investment capital inflows totaled $101.0 billion.
Recent Examples of Investing in America:
- On May 11, German ThyssenKrupp AG announced plans to invest $3.7 billion dollars into a new steel plant near Mount Vernon, Alabama. This facility is expected to open in 2010 and will employ approximately 2,700 people. 4
- On February 27, Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation announced that it would build a new manufacturing facility near Tupelo, Mississippi. This $1.3 billion facility is expected to employ 2,000 initially. In 2005, Toyota employed 38,340 people in North America. 5
1 Unless otherwise noted, source: BEA data with analysis from the Organization for International Investment
2 Source: BEA (figures at historical cost)
3 Source: BEA (figures at current cost)
4 Source: The International Herald-Tribune
5 Source: The Clarion-Ledger Newspaper
