Foreign Direct Investment: Background and Issues [Updated April 13, 2022]   [open pdf - 557KB]

From the Document: "Both inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI) are significant to the U.S. economy, international trade, and global supply chains, and form a key component of U.S. trade policy. Traditionally, the United States has supported a rules-based and open investment environment domestically and internationally to promote U.S. economic growth and other policy objectives, such as ensuring that the United States remains a premier destination for FDI and ensuring the competitiveness of U.S companies overseas. [...] At the intersection of many competing interests, U.S. investment policy has been the subject of long-standing debate. [...] Congress could examine several aspects of U.S. FDI policy, including the effects of FDI on the U.S. economy, firms, workers, and U.S. supply chains; further reforms to foreign investment reviews and whether to require greater transparency and oversight of U.S outbound investment; U.S. investment policy objectives and commitments in FTAs [free trade agreements] and BITs [bilateral investment treaties], and new initiatives; trading partner FDI policies and trade barriers; and the effectiveness of investment promotion programs."