Facts About
   Modern Manufacturing
10th Largest Labor Costs #2 Globally Share of GDP
Investing Abroad Attracting Investment Subsidiaries’ Benefits Foreign Investment Subsidiaries' R&D Spending
Multiplier Effect Living Standards Upstream Jobs Productivity Powerhouse Strong Profitability Manufactured Goods’ Path Equipment Investment R&D Investment U.S. R&D Picture
Higher Wages #3 Manufacturing Exporter Industries Dominating Trade 234 Countries Trade Gap Value-Added Measurement Current Account Deficit Export Market Share Share of U.S. Exports Exports and Growth
Emissions Reduction Energy Efficiency Fuel Use Climate Change Renewable Energy Safety China's Emissions
Range of Workers Compensation Healthcare Educated Workforce
Age Gap Math & Science Engineering Graduates Higher Education
Manufacturing Growth Manufacturing GDP Traditional Manufacturing Measuring Spending
Doing Business Corporate Taxes Healthcare Costs Tort Costs Patents R&D Investment Oil Exports Ban
Plant Size State Economies Value-Added Leaders

U.S. Manufacturing Attracts Foreign Investment

Capital moves across borders with increasing ease and high returns on investments testify to the attractiveness of America as a place to do business. In 2013, U.S. affiliates of foreign industrial companies held $936 billion worth of foreign direct investment in the country. The stock of foreign investment here has been outstripping the amount of U.S. capital parked in industrial plants elsewhere since 1998. The Great Recession did not dent the clear upward trend of inbound investment.

FDI in American manufacturing generates profits for investors, local jobs, and taxes paid to the federal government. Foreign companies like to set up shop here because of the rich supplier networks, logistics, and straightforward application of the rule of law. Foreign-owned manufacturing firms employed 2.3 million Americans in 2012.

These firms tend to export a large share of output, contributing to healthier external payments balances—automakers are one example. Foreign-owned firms also benefit from an intersection of local and foreign technologies that support innovation, a process that directly and indirectly enriches the domestic economy.