Benefits, Suspicions and Risks of Foreign Direct Investment in the US
It’s as important as ever to enhance the United States as a destination for multinational investors.
Fourth-quarter 2017 foreign direct investment flows in the United States were below average for the past few years at $60 billion, bringing FDIUS for the full-year 2017 to $287 billion. This followed record-breaking years in 2015 and 2016. FDIUS for both years approached nearly half a trillion dollars. While FDIUS in 2017 was the fourth-strongest for the past decade, it was down nearly 40 percent from the 2016 level.
These investments benefit the American economy as international firms build new factories across the United States, buoy their well established U.S. operations, fund American research and development activities, and employ more than 6.8 million Americans in well-paying jobs.
Globally, inward FDI fell 16 percent to $1.52 trillion in 2017 from the previous year, according to preliminary estimates by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD). The United States maintained its number one position in the world as a destination for FDI. UNCTAD projects that global FDI flows in 2018 will return to their 2016 level of $1.8trillion.
