The Rationale for FDI

U.S. new FDI expenditures have been up significantly in recent years, even with the start of COVID-19.

Cumulative stock or position by sector:

Growth trends in FDI by sector:

Chemicals is the largest and fastest growing recipient of FDI in manufacturing

FDI Stock by Region Over Time:

Growth trends among countries:

FDI Stock by Region and Sector – Over Time:

SelectUSA is the only federal-level program dedicated to facilitating and promoting foreign investment in the United States. Housed within the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, SelectUSA also raises the awareness of the critical role that foreign direct investment plays in the U.S. economy.

SelectUSA works with foreign firms seeking to expand to the U.S. and with economic development organizations seeking to attract foreign investment. SelectUSA services include:

• Providing information and counseling to firms and EDOs
• Providing platforms to directly connect foreign firms and EDOs
• Helping foreign firms and EDOs understand and demystify federal rules and regulations
• Providing investment project advocacy support to EDOs

For in-depth national and state-level FDI statistics, see SelectUSA data tool

FDI in the U.S. Fact Sheet provides information such as:

• Graphic of jobs by state
• U.S. FDI 2012 to 2016 (position and flow*)
• Top 15 sources (countries) of FDI position* for 2016
• Fact sheets for 46 individual investor countries

• BEA is primary source of data for U.S. FDI statistics
• See Glossary for commonly used FDI-related terms

1. “Data” tab
2. “by Topic”
3. “International Trade & Investment” https://www.bea.gov/data/intl-trade-investment
   • “Direct Investment by Country and Industry”
   • “Activities of U.S. Affiliates of Foreign Multinational Enterprise (MNEs)”
   • “New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States”

fDi Intelligence and fDi Markets are products from the Financial Times that monitor global FDI activity. fDi Intelligence (online portal) and fDi Magazine provide coverage on global FDI trends and analysis of locations and growing sectors. A modest annual subscription provides unrestricted access to an archive or articles and reports. fDi Markets is a subscription database that “tracks greenfield investment and expansions globally… across all markets and sectors” and also includes an “Investor Signal Module,” which “tracks companies planning to invest abroad BEFORE they decide where to invest.” fDi Reports provides a catalog of standard reports for purchase about FDI in specific sectors, countries, or companies, and also offers customized reports.

Thirty-two U.S. metro areas participated in the Brookings Global Cities Initiative, through which they created integrated export and FDI plans. This web page offers resources based on lessons learned by the participating metros.

• Blog post: “Does the ‘foreign’ in ‘foreign direct investment’ matter?”
• Report: “FDI in U.S. Metro Areas: The geography of jobs in foreign-owned establishments” 
  • Paper provides data on FDI in the US, primarily focused on metros.

Report: Foreign Direct Investment in the United States 2021

• Provides statistics for 2021 based on BEA data

Bureau van Dijk is a source of business intelligence that has some useful webinars and videos on demand, blogs, and white papers on its site. In particular, scroll down to the July 2020 webinar on “What does data show us about the impact of a global lockdown on FDI and M&A?”

The EB-5 program is an increasingly important source of foreign investment. IIUSA, Invest in the USA, is a “national membership-based” not-for-profit association for the EB-5 Regional Center Program. Their members “account for a vast majority of capital formation and job creation in the U.S.” resulting from the EB-5 program.