Updated: March 2016 International investment drives U.S. economic growth.

1. Top Ten Overlooked Facts About International Investment
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OVERLOOKED
INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT
FACTS ABOUT

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International investment drives U.S. economic growth.
Source: Matthew J. Slaughter, U.S. Council for International Business and Business Roundtable,
How U.S. Multinational Companies Strengthen the U.S. Economy, March 2010.
Source: Organization for International Investment (OFII), “Chain Reaction, Global Investment Works for
America,” May 2012.
U.S.multinationals’investments abroad serve
as the gateway to the global economy for
American small and medium sized businesses
as they purchase 90 percent of their
intermediate inputs from other U.S.companies.
Meanwhile,U.S.subsidiaries of foreign
multinationals invest nearly $100 billion
annually in their U.S.operations.

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Source: Organization for International Investment (OFII), “Chain Reaction, Global Investment Works for
America,” May 2012.
U.S.subsidiaries of foreign-headquartered companies employ 21 millionAmericans
directly or indirectly,representing 12 percent of total U.S.employment.
Investment from abroad creates millions of American jobs.

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Companies that invest abroad are great employers
for American workers.
Source: Matthew J. Slaughter, U.S. Council for International Business and Business Roundtable, How
U.S. Multinational Companies Strengthen the U.S. Economy, March 2010.
Not only do U.S.multinational
companies employ more than
23 millionAmericans,the
compensation they offer is
nearly 20 percent higher than
the U.S.private sector average.

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Investing abroad makes American companies resilient.
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Even as the sharpest recession in a
generation caused the U.S.economy to
shed eight million jobs between 2007
and 2009,U.S.multinational corporations
added a net 289,000American jobs.
They added 2 million more U.S.jobs
between 2009 and 2013.

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Source: Kevin B. Barefoot and Raymond J. Mataloni Jr., Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department
of Commerce, “Operations of U.S. Multinational Companies in the United States and Abroad:
Preliminary Results From the 2009 Benchmark Survey,” November 2011.
Source: Mihir A. Desai, C. Fritz Foley, James R. Hines Jr., “Domestic Effects of the Foreign Activities of
U.S. Multinationals,” May 2008.
More than 90 percent of the production
of foreign affiliates of U.S.multinationals
is sold abroad­—­not in the United States.
Further,a 10 percent increase in foreign
capital investment triggers a 2.6 percent
increase in domestic capital investment.
U.S. companies invest in foreign markets to serve those
markets—not as a substitute for domestic production.

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International investment is a powerful driver of U.S. exports.
Source: Matthew J. Slaughter, U.S. Council for International Business and Business Roundtable, How
U.S. Multinational Companies Strengthen the U.S. Economy, March 2010.
U.S.multinational corporations
generate nearly half of all merchandise
exports,with their foreign affiliates
purchasing one-fifth of the total,
while U.S.subsidiaries of foreign
multinationals generate more than
20 percent of all U.S.exports.

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Earnings from foreign investments help U.S. companies
innovate here at home.
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Sales by foreign affiliates of
U.S. multinationals topped $7 trillion
in 2013.These revenues help underwrite
their research and development activities,
84 percent of which continue to be
performed in the United States.

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While 95 percent of the world’s
customers live outside the United States,
two-thirds of these firms’ employment,
value-added, and capital expenditures
are in the United States.
Source: Kevin B. Barefoot and Raymond J. Mataloni Jr., Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department
of Commerce, “Operations of U.S. Multinational Companies in the United States and Abroad:
Preliminary Results From the 2009 Benchmark Survey,” November 2011.
U.S.multinational companies are overwhelmingly focused on
the United States.

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Most U.S. investment abroad goes to developed countries
with high wages and labor standards.
Source: Kevin B. Barefoot and Raymond J. Mataloni Jr., Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department
of Commerce, “Operations of U.S. Multinational Companies in the United States and Abroad:
Preliminary Results From the 2009 Benchmark Survey,” November 2011.
Far from a race to the bottom,U.S.companies
have directed 75 percent of their
investments abroad to Europe, Canada,
Japan, and other high-income nations.

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Source: Organization for International Investment (OFII), “Chain Reaction, Global Investment Works for
America,” May 2012.
U.S.subsidiaries of foreign
multinationals buy $1.8 trillion in
intermediate inputs fromAmerican
companies of all sizes — representing
almost 80 cents of every dollar they
spend on materials and components.
Investors from abroad are big buyers locally.

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