Reshoring is bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States, but are Chinese manufacturers coming to America, too? According to a recent report, the number of American workers who are employed directly by Chinese companies increased by more than 500% in the last five years. This trend coincides with another important increase, the growth of investment in the United States by Chinese firms.
According to manufacturing.net, the data was compiled by the National Committee on United States-China Relations and the Rhodium Group, an international research firm with corporate offices in New York. “Fears that Chinese acquirers could systematically move acquired assets and related jobs back to China have not materialized,” the report said. “Instead, Chinese owners have, in most cases, sustained and expanded local employment after they acquired U.S. assets.”
Today, approximately 80,000 American workers are employed by Chinese companies, a major increase from less than 15,000 in 2009. Over the next five years, additional Chinese investment in the U.S. could generate up to $200 million in new spending and create as many as 400,000 jobs. Chinese firms now operate in over 75% of Congressional districts, with North Carolina and Illinois receiving the most significant investments.
As a New York State manufacturer, what do you think of this trend? Will you readily add Chinese-affiliated companies to your U.S. supply chain, or will concerns about the quality of Chinese-made goods affect your decision-making? At the same time, do you believe that stronger economic ties between the two nations will increase U.S. access to the Chinese domestic market, as the authors of the report claim?
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