U.S. Remains No. 1 Choice for Foreign Investment – New Stats Released

"On Monday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released highly-anticipated data highlighting new foreign direct investment (FDI) expenditures in the United States.

These statistics capture the story of new FDI into the United States in 2014 and introduce a perspective on FDI never before seen in official BEA statistics. Highlighting data like this is not only part of SelectUSA’s mission to facilitate and promote FDI into the United States but it also gives our business and policy leaders a quantitative look at how the United States maintains its title as the number one destination for FDI.

In the new set of data, BEA produced statistics that specify two types of new FDI: acquisitions and greenfield investments. Greenfield investments capture how much foreign investors are spending to establish and/or expand U.S. businesses. Last year, new FDI expenditures made by foreign investors acquiring, establishing, and expanding U.S. businesses totaled $241.3 billion while greenfield investments accounted for seven percent of that total, exceeding $16.5 billion. Acquisitions accounted for the majority of new investment expenditure, totaling $224.7 billion in 2014..."

Foreign investment

Foreign Direct Investors’ Outlays to Acquire or Establish U.S. Businesses Increased in 2008
"Outlays by foreign direct investors to acquire or establish U.S. businesses increased 3 percent in 2008, to $260.4 billion. Outlays in 2008 were the third-largest on record and the sixth consecutive increase since a falloff in outlays in 2001-2002."

Foreign Investment and National Security: Economic Considerations
"...This report assesses recent international developments as the leaders from a number of nations work to reach a consensus on an informal set of best practices regarding national restrictions on foreign investment for national security purposes. This report also provides one possible approach for assessing the costs and benefits involved in using national policies to direct or to restrict foreign direct investment for national security reasons. Within the United States, there is no consensus yet among Members of Congress or between the Congress and the Administration over a working set of parameters that establishes a functional definition of the national economic security implications of foreign direct investment..."

Foreign Direct Investors’ Outlays to Acquire or Establish U.S. Businesses Increased in 2007
"Outlays by foreign direct investors to acquire or to establish U.S. businesses increased sharply in 2007 after also increasing strongly in 2006. Outlays reached $276.8 billion in 2007, the second largest recorded and the highest since 2000, when new investment outlays peaked at $335.6 billion."