Want More Foreign Direct Investment? Liberalize Trade
April 13, 2015
Recently the U.S. government convened its second SelectUSA Investment Summit. Welcoming over 2,000 business and government leaders, President Obama proclaimed that, “America is proudly open for business, and we want to make it as simple and as attractive for you to set up shop here as is possible.” But actions always speak louder than words. What tangible polices could America change to spur more inward foreign direct investment? Here’s one: liberalize trade.
This recommendation might strike some as exactly backward. Wouldn’t trade barriers against foreign products induce global companies to invest to produce in America? A few days ago The Wall Street Journal kindly ran an op-ed column by one of us (co-authored with Robert Kimmitt) that argues that the correct answer to this question is, “no."
Click here to read the piece and to understand why. The aspirations of the SelectUSA Summit should be matched by tangible progress on America’s trade agenda; ideally, submitting and passing Trade Promotion Authority and then closing and ratifying the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Otherwise, long faces may prevail at the next such gathering.
Articles © 2015 Matthew Slaughter and Matthew Rees. All rights reserved.
Publication © 2015 Trustees of Dartmouth College. All rights reserved.