Foreign Business Investments Could Boost U.S. Economy

If May's job figures are any indication, the fragile U.S. economic recovery has shriveled in the bud. Businesses filled only 69,000 jobs last month, the weakest growth in a year. The unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent, the first increase since last June.

But some business experts believe things can be turned around by encouraging more foreign investment in the U.S. economy.

According to a report released this week by the Organization for International Investment (OFII), U.S. subsidaries of foreign-owned businesses are already big contributors to the American economy -- and they could be doing more.

"Ten years ago, the U.S. attracted about 40 percent of cross border investments; most recently, it's about 17 percent," said Nancy McLernon, president and CEO of OFII. "The pie itself has grown, but our slice of it has gotten dramatically smaller while other developed countries have not. Close to 90 percent of investment in the U.S. is from Europe and Canada. There is a developing world out there and we'd like to see us go after these emerging markets."

Foreign companies in the U.S. are responsible for 21 million American jobs, or 12.2 percent of all jobs in this country. For every worker receiving an employee paycheck at a U.S. subsidiary of a global company, an additional three jobs are supported in the U.S. economy.

"We are in a global competition for capital," said Dennis F. Kerrigan Jr., executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Zurich North America, a member of OFII. "Whether it's an insurer or a manufacturing company, senior management is looking to allocate capital for the best return on investment, and there are better returns in the U.S. We want to create policies that actually encourage this and create a level playing field for foreign companies."

According to OFII, these U.S. subsidiaries: 

• Spend an annual $43.4 billion on U.S. research and development activities
• Reinvest an annual $93.6 billion in their U.S. operations
• Account for less than 1 percent of all U.S. business but pay $38 billion in annual U.S. corporate taxes, nearly 17 percent of total U.S. corporate tax payments
• Spend an annual $154.2 billion on property, plant construction and new equipment
• Directly employ 5.3 million Americans
• Support an annual payroll of $409.7 billion, with average compensation per worker of $77,597, about one-third higher than compensation at all U.S. companies
• Manufacture in America to export goods around the world, accounting for more than 21 percent of all U.S. exports, or $219.7 billion
• Buy $1.8 trillion in intermediate inputs from local suppliers and small businesses, almost 80 cents for every dollar spent of their total input purchases
• Are more highly unionized than the overall business community, with 12.4 percent of employees covered, compared with 8.2 percent at all U.S. businesses.

For example, Zurich's U.S. headquarters in suburban Chicago employs 3,000 and contributes more than $300 million to the Illinois economy through wages paid. "Just as importantly, Zurich purchased more than $175 million worth of goods and services from Illinois-based vendors, multiplying our economic impact through the supply chain," said CEO Mike Foley.

To help encourage more investment, Senate and House leaders of both parties this week introduced the Global Investment in American Jobs Act, which encourages Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by assessing current U.S. policy on inbound investment. Sens. Kerry (D-MA) and Corker (R-TN) sponsor the Senate legislation and Reps. Dold (R-IL-10), Roskam (R-IL-06), Peters (D-MI-09) and Barrow (D-GA-12) lead the House bill.

Encouraging foreign investment also creates more opportunities for insurers and brokers, Kerrigan said. "This is the opposite of outsourcing," he said. "The more businesses are attracted to the U.S., the more insurance policies need to be written, and the more customers for both insurance companies and brokers. We're agnostic as to where investment comes from; we just want to compete for the insureds."