According to the Reshoring Initiative’s 2022 data report, reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI) job announcements in 2022 were at the highest rate ever recorded. There was 364,000 reshoring and FDI jobs announced for 2022, which was up 53% from 2021’s record number. Fourth-quarter announcements accelerated even more than anticipated due to the Chips and Infrastructure Acts and deglobalization trends. In addition, 2022 brought the total number of job announcements since 2010 to nearly 1.6 million.

The Reshoring Initiative said that supply-chain gaps and the need for greater self-sufficiency set the stage for the current upward trend in reshoring. The risks of a Taiwan-China conflict or China voluntarily decoupling are focusing those concerns. Destabilizing geopolitical and climate forces have brought to light the nation’s vulnerabilities and the need to address them. The White House responded with the Inflation Reduction Act, Chips Act and Infrastructure Bill, offering some direction and financial security to the companies and industries intent on filling the gaps.  

These government actions are necessary in the short run but are not sufficient since they do not improve the nation’s uncompetitive cost structure, according to the Reshoring Initiative. A true industrial policy would level the cost playing field via comprehensive actions such as massive skilled workforce investments, a 25% lower USD and retention of immediate expensing of capital investments.

“The current actions and momentum are a great start. A true industrial policy would accelerate the trend and increase U.S. manufacturing by 40%. Reshoring will reduce the trade and budget deficits and make the U.S. safer, more self-reliant and resilient,” said Harry Moser, founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative.

Click here to read the Reshoring Initiative’s 2022 data report.