October 7, 2011

Stepped-up Efforts to Attract Foreign Investment
Urgently Needed to Create Jobs & Compete Globally

Washington, DC- The Organization for International Investment (OFII), a business organization representing the U.S. operations of global companies such as Nestle, Sony, BASF and Tata -  applauds Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for bringing together leading business executives today to discuss ways to increase foreign direct investment in the United States as an engine for job creation.

 U.S Subsidiaries of global companies currently employ over five million Americans, but an OFII study released today, The Foreign Investment Challenge for the United States, by Professor Matthew Slaughter of Dartmouth, concludes that the United States’ share of global FDI has fallen off drastically over the last decade from more than 40 percent to 17 percent. And in the first six months of 2011, FDI inflows into the U.S. fell by 11 percent compared to the first half of 2010.

“Our country’s longstanding commitment to an open investment climate that promotes equitable treatment for companies that ‘insource’ jobs is key to encouraging global companies to set up shop in the U.S.,” said Nancy McLernon, President & CEO of the Organization for International Investment (OFII).

McLernon was among the delegation of business executives in attendance today for the Investment Roundtable led by Secretary Clinton.

 “However, the global competition to attract foreign investment has become intense. If ever there was a time for the U.S. to enhance its effort to attract the world’s business to come here and create jobs, the time is now,” she added. 

“This is casino uk a non-partisan issue both sides of the aisle can work on together,” said James M. Guyette, President & CEO of Rolls-Royce North America Inc. “Both Democrats and Republicans know that global companies create good jobs and have promoted policies to attract these businesses to the U.S.  Simply put, a national effort to attract foreign investment will help us compete with the rest of the world to grow jobs right here.” Guyette was also in attendance at today’s Investment Roundtable Discussion at the State Department.

 OFII has been working over the last year to encourage policymakers to focus on attracting investment. Over the summer, the Administration launched SelectUSA, the first inter-agency initiative strictly focused on increasing investment in the U.S. Soon after, President Obama issued an open investment policy statement reiterating the United States’ longstanding commitment to an open economy—signifying to the world that the U.S. is open for business and values the jobs global companies create for American workers.

FACTS ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN THE U.S.

Jobs: U.S. subsidiaries of global companies employ 5.3 million Americans;
Payroll: U.S. subsidiaries support an annual payroll of $408.5 billion;
Manufacturing: U.S. subsidiaries heavily invest in the American manufacturing sector; nearly 38 percent of American jobs at U.S. subsidiaries are in manufacturing;
Exports: U.S. subsidiaries manufacture in America to export goods around the world — accounting for more than 18 percent of all U.S. exports, or $232.4 billion;
Reinvestment:  U.S. subsidiaries reinvest an annual $93.1 billion in their U.S. operations.
Taxes:  U.S. subsidiaries pay $38 billion in annual U.S. corporate taxes, nearly 17 percent of total U.S. corporate tax payments.
*All statistics are the latest publicly available government data from the Department of Commerce and the Internal Revenue Service.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

OFII Study: The Foreign Investment Challenge for the United States
President Obama’s: Open Investment Statement
SelectUSA
Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Report: U.S. Trade and Investment Policy

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The Organization for International Investment is a Washington-based business association representing U.S. subsidiaries of global companies. For additional information, see OFII’s web site at www.ofii.org.