Attract Foreign Investment with SelectUSA

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SelectUSA, housed within the Commerce Department‘s International Trade Administration, serves as America’s official investment recruiter.

The program works as a government-wide concierge service for foreign companies considering U.S. operations while providing a global platform for American states and cities competing for those investments.

Foreign direct investment supports 16 million American jobs and pumps over $270 billion into the U.S. economy through SelectUSA’s efforts alone.

What Foreign Direct Investment Means

Foreign direct investment isn’t just money crossing borders. It represents something much more significant: a long-term commitment from foreign companies to build, expand, and operate in the United States.

FDI requires foreign investors to obtain a “lasting interest” in American businesses, typically defined as owning 10% or more of voting securities. This threshold distinguishes FDI from portfolio investment, where foreign entities simply buy stocks or bonds without seeking management control.

The difference matters. Portfolio investments can vanish overnight when nervous investors sell their holdings. FDI involves building factories, establishing research centers, and creating operations that take years to develop and can’t be quickly abandoned.

Three Types of Investment

Foreign direct investment takes several forms, each with different economic impacts:

Greenfield Investments involve foreign companies building new facilities from scratch. When a Japanese automaker constructs a new assembly plant in Tennessee, that’s greenfield investment. These projects create entirely new economic capacity and jobs that didn’t previously exist.

Mergers and Acquisitions occur when foreign companies purchase controlling stakes in existing American businesses. While M&A can sometimes involve restructuring that affects employment short-term, these investments often inject new capital, technology, and management practices that strengthen American companies long-term.

Joint Ventures bring together foreign investors and U.S. companies to create new, jointly owned enterprises. These partnerships combine complementary strengths and resources from both sides.

Greenfield investments typically generate the most public enthusiasm because they represent purely additive economic activity. M&A deals, while often highly beneficial, can face more skeptical reception when they involve restructuring or consolidation.

The Economic Engine

The United States serves as both the world’s largest source and recipient of foreign direct investment, reflecting deep integration between the American economy and global markets.

Job Creation: FDI directly or indirectly supported 16 million U.S. jobs as of 2019, representing over 10% of total American employment. This represented growth from 12 million jobs in 2013. In 2022, U.S. subsidiaries of majority foreign-owned firms directly employed 8.4 million American workers.

Higher Wages: These aren’t just any jobs. A 2017 study found that U.S. affiliates of foreign multinationals paid over $10,000 more per employee in total annual compensation compared to average U.S. private sector firms. The higher wages reflect higher productivity in foreign-owned operations.

Capital and Technology: Industries with significant foreign investment tend to be more capital-intensive, leveraging better equipment, technology, and infrastructure per worker than domestic counterparts. One study estimated that U.S. manufacturing productivity was 7.8% higher in 2019 than it would have been without FDI presence.

Innovation Investment: Foreign-owned companies heavily invest in American innovation. In 2022 alone, U.S. affiliates of majority foreign-owned firms spent $80.3 billion on research and development activities. This spending supports high-skilled science and engineering jobs while maintaining America’s innovation leadership.

Export Powerhouse: Foreign-owned firms operating in America leverage their global networks to sell American-made goods worldwide. These companies accounted for nearly 25% of all U.S. goods exports in 2022, strengthening manufacturing and contributing positively to trade balances.

The spillover effects extend throughout the economy. When foreign companies introduce new manufacturing processes or supply chain systems, domestic firms observe and adopt these practices, raising competitive standards across entire industries.

America’s Competitive Advantages

For eleven consecutive years, the United States has ranked as the world’s top FDI destination. This isn’t accidental but reflects unique advantages that other countries struggle to match.

Market Size: The U.S. represents the world’s largest consumer market, with a $25 trillion GDP and 335 million people with high disposable income. American household spending alone accounts for nearly one-third of global household consumption. Free trade agreements with 20 countries provide U.S.-based producers enhanced access to hundreds of millions of additional consumers.

Skilled Workforce: The American workforce combines high skills with exceptional productivity. Over 40% of U.S. adults have completed post-secondary education, contributing to workforce productivity more than 30% above the average for developed countries.

Legal Framework: Global investors prize stability and predictability. The United States offers strong rule of law, transparent legal systems, and robust intellectual property protections. This framework creates secure environments that encourage large, long-term capital investments.

Innovation Ecosystem: America leads global innovation and technology development. World-class research universities, vibrant venture capital communities, and entrepreneurship-encouraging cultures make the U.S. exceptionally attractive for high-tech, R&D-intensive companies.

Open Investment Policy: The U.S. government historically maintains policies treating foreign and domestic investors equally under law. This non-discriminatory approach means foreign firms can compete on level playing fields with American counterparts in most sectors.

The Birth of SelectUSA

For decades, efforts to attract foreign investment remained fragmented across thousands of state and local economic development organizations. While local competition for investment remained healthy, global competition was intensifying.

The U.S. share of global FDI inflows declined from 31% in 1980 to 13% in 2006, signaling that America could no longer afford passive approaches to investment attraction. Other countries were becoming more aggressive in courting international capital.

Organizational Structure

The International Trade Administration provides SelectUSA’s institutional home. With a $625 million budget and approximately 1,500 federal employees in 2024, the ITA focuses on strengthening U.S. international competitiveness, promoting trade and investment, and ensuring fair trade enforcement.

The ITA organizes around three units that work together:

Global Markets includes the U.S. Commercial Service network operating in over 100 U.S. cities and more than 70 countries. This unit assists U.S. businesses in international markets while helping global companies invest in America.

Industry & Analysis serves as the strategic intelligence core, producing market data, research, and analysis that informs policy and business strategy.

Enforcement & Compliance defends U.S. industries against unfair trade practices like dumping and improper subsidies while monitoring compliance with over 250 trade agreements.

This structure shows that attracting inbound investment is central to the ITA’s mission, not an afterthought to export promotion.

Presidential Initiative

In June 2011, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13577, officially establishing SelectUSA as the first government-wide program specifically mandated to “encourage, facilitate, and accelerate business investment in the United States.”

The program marked a fundamental shift in U.S. economic policy. It acknowledged that in fiercely competitive global markets, America’s inherent economic strengths—while formidable—were insufficient alone. The U.S. needed to actively compete for FDI rather than simply hoping it would arrive.

SelectUSA was designed not just to market America abroad but to address critical friction points for investors navigating complex federal government machinery. By creating a “single point of entry,” the government aimed to make investment processes smoother, more predictable, and ultimately more attractive.

Interagency Coordination

Perhaps SelectUSA’s most critical function is cross-government coordination. While state and local economic development organizations can offer tax incentives and site selection assistance, only federal entities can convene other federal agencies to solve complex problems.

SelectUSA chairs the Federal Interagency Investment Working Group, composed of representatives from more than 20 federal departments and agencies including Energy, Labor, Transportation, and State. When potential investors face federal regulatory hurdles—environmental permits, workforce training programs, or visa processing—SelectUSA uses its convening authority to bring relevant agencies together and find solutions.

This ability to act as an internal government ombudsman represents SelectUSA’s most powerful tool, offering services that no private consultant or state-level organization can replicate.

How SelectUSA Works

SelectUSA operates through a dual-client model serving both foreign companies seeking U.S. investment opportunities and domestic economic development organizations competing to attract those investments.

Services for Foreign Investors

For international businesses, especially those new to U.S. markets, establishing American operations can seem overwhelming. SelectUSA functions as a trusted guide and facilitator.

Information and Counseling: The program provides foreign companies with unbiased, actionable data for informed decision-making. Investment specialists can provide customized reports on industry cluster strengths, workforce availability and costs, supply chain logistics, and regulatory environment overviews.

Federal Navigation: SelectUSA’s most valuable service helps companies navigate complex federal rules, regulations, and programs. Investors might have questions about labor laws, customs procedures, intellectual property protection, or federal grant program eligibility. SelectUSA provides answers and connects companies with appropriate federal agency contacts.

Making Connections: SelectUSA doesn’t choose locations for companies but makes it easier for companies to find perfect locations themselves. The program makes direct, vetted introductions between foreign investors and state and local economic development organizations that provide on-ground support.

Supporting Economic Development Organizations

SelectUSA’s second client base includes thousands of economic development organizations at state, regional, local, and tribal levels across America. For these organizations, many with limited budgets, SelectUSA provides powerful platforms to compete globally.

Global Marketing Platform: SelectUSA gives U.S. communities amplified voices to reach international investors. The program organizes and hosts events worldwide, from large-scale road shows in key foreign markets to the flagship annual Investment Summit. These events provide economic development organizations unparalleled opportunities to market their locations directly to curated audiences of serious potential investors.

High-Level Advocacy: When U.S. states or regions compete in final stages against foreign countries for major investment projects, SelectUSA can bring full U.S. government weight to the table. This involves coordinating high-level federal official engagement to demonstrate government support and help make business cases for choosing “Team USA.”

Geographic Neutrality: SelectUSA’s advocacy is for the United States as a whole. The program maintains strict geographic neutrality policies. It won’t advocate for companies to invest in one state over another. Its role is securing investment somewhere in America. Once that decision is made, states and localities compete on their own merits.

The Investment Summit

The centerpiece of SelectUSA’s strategy is the annual Investment Summit, designed as the “highest profile event in the United States to facilitate business investment.” More than a conference, the Summit operates as a massive, organized marketplace bringing together every key player in the FDI ecosystem.

Scale and Scope

The Summit’s core value is efficiency. It physically brings together all key FDI ecosystem players under one roof for intensive networking and deal-making days. The scale is immense. The 2025 Investment Summit convened over 5,500 attendees, including more than 2,700 international business delegates from over 100 foreign markets and over 1,100 economic developers representing 54 U.S. states and territories.

The guest list includes formidable U.S. government presence, with Cabinet Secretaries, governors, and senior officials participating to underscore national commitment to attracting investment.

The Summit functions as a “marketplace of opportunity” solving fundamental global economy friction problems. For foreign investors, researching 50 states and thousands of potential localities represents overwhelming cost and complexity. The Summit allows efficient location “shopping,” meeting representatives from across the country in days rather than months.

For economic development organizations from smaller cities or rural regions, global marketing costs are often prohibitive. The Summit provides direct, cost-effective access to large, highly qualified potential investor pools.

Summit Components

Exhibition Hall: This vibrant Summit heart features hundreds of economic development organizations from states, cities, counties, and regions showcasing their unique advantages through booths displaying workforce strengths, infrastructure assets, and local incentive programs. Investors can walk floors, gather information, and have direct conversations with economic development officials.

Networking and Matchmaking: Beyond organic exhibition hall networking, the Summit employs technology to foster connections. Dedicated event and matchmaking apps allow attendees to pre-schedule one-on-one meetings, ensuring investors connect with specific economic development organizations or service providers most relevant to their business needs.

Plenaries and Academies: Main stage features high-level plenary sessions and discussions with Cabinet Secretaries, governors, and global CEOs. These sessions provide valuable insights into U.S. economic policy, investment trends, and key industry futures. Smaller “SelectUSA Academy” sessions offer practical workshops on critical topics, providing actionable instruction on everything from navigating visa laws and labor regulations to understanding financing options and developing skilled workforces.

SelectUSA Tech: Recognizing startup economy importance, the Summit includes dedicated programs connecting early-stage and startup technology companies from around the world with U.S. funding and growth prospects. Key features include industry-specific pitching sessions where entrepreneurs present ideas to judge panels and potential investors.

Deal-Making Results

The Summit’s ultimate purpose is making deals happen. It has become a major venue for companies to announce new U.S. investment projects. The 2025 Summit catalyzed over $1 billion in new investment commitments made by companies during the event.

Since inception, the Summit has directly facilitated over $135 billion in new investment projects, supporting more than 105,000 jobs across the country. Testimonials from both investors and economic development organizations consistently praise the event as invaluable for fostering relationships that lead to tangible economic growth.

Measuring Success

SelectUSA tracks performance through verified data, showcases successes through real-world case studies, and provides public-facing data tools to enhance transparency.

Performance Metrics

Since creation in 2011, SelectUSA has facilitated more than $270 billion in client-verified investment projects. These investments have supported creation and retention of over 240,000 U.S. jobs across the country and territories.

The “client-verified” term is important. It means investing companies have formally confirmed to the U.S. government that SelectUSA assistance was instrumental in their decisions to invest or expand in America. This methodology addresses causality questions and demonstrates direct program contributions to economic outcomes.

The program’s impact has shown significant momentum over time:

This progression shows accelerating program impact, with significant portions of total facilitated investment occurring in recent years. In fiscal year 2023 alone, SelectUSA facilitated over $55 billion in client-verified FDI.

Success Stories

Behind aggregate data are real stories of companies making decisions to invest in American communities.

RelateCare (Ireland): This Irish telehealth company was looking to expand into the U.S. to meet growing demand. CEO Conor O’Byrne found the SelectUSA Investment Summit provided a “one-stop shop” for advice and connections. The summit experience was instrumental in their decision to open a new call center in Sherwood, Arkansas, chosen for proximity to colleges providing skilled nursing workforces. The investment created 200 U.S. jobs and enables 24/7 telehealth services nationwide.

Green Li-ion (Singapore): At a previous Investment Summit, this Singaporean battery recycling company’s CEO first connected with Oklahoma’s governor. That initial handshake led to developing a new facility in Atoka, Oklahoma, which opened in March 2024. The plant recycles spent lithium-ion batteries and redeploys skills of engineers from the state’s traditional oil and gas sector for clean energy technology.

Mint Innovation (New Zealand): This e-waste recycling firm from New Zealand credits the SelectUSA Investment Summit as a “major driver” in its U.S. expansion decision. Connections made with economic development officials and industry experts at the summit were crucial in building “an investment case for advancing into the U.S.” This led to the company breaking ground on a new electronic-waste recycling and metal-refining facility in Longview, Texas, employing local workers and recovering valuable materials like copper and gold from discarded electronics.

NorSun (Norway): The Investment Summit often serves as the stage for major announcements. At the 2024 event, Norwegian solar company NorSun announced plans to invest $620 million building its first U.S. facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The plant, manufacturing silicon ingots and solar wafers, is expected to create 320 direct jobs and strengthen U.S. renewable energy supply chains.

Public Data Tools

SelectUSA provides free, publicly accessible online tools that offer valuable data for both investors and economic development organizations.

SelectUSA Stats: This collection of interactive data dashboards on trade.gov allows users to visualize and analyze key FDI data from multiple government sources. The dashboards cover cluster mapping, FDI stock and flow tracking, workforce data analysis, and target industry identification.

SelectUSA FDI Database: This practical, searchable database connects international companies with on-ground support. Investors can search for economic development organizations by state, industry focus, or target countries. The database provides information on site selection services, incentive programs, and key contacts.

Fact Sheets: SelectUSA maintains extensive libraries of downloadable fact sheets providing concise FDI impact overviews for the entire U.S. as well as detailed breakdowns for each state, territory, and major source countries.

Challenges and Realities

Understanding SelectUSA requires examining the significant challenges it faces, criticisms of its model, and the complex policy environment in which it operates.

Global Headwinds

SelectUSA operates in a challenging global environment that affects its mission:

Economic Uncertainty: Global FDI flows are sensitive to world economic health. Recent years have seen slowing global economies, rising geopolitical tensions, and tighter financing conditions creating more difficult cross-border investment environments. Global FDI flows fell in 2023, and while modest recovery is projected, significant uncertainties remain.

Intensifying Competition: While the United States remains the top destination, it faces fierce competition. Other developed nations in Europe and Asia are sophisticated competitors, and growing numbers of developing countries successfully implement policies making themselves more attractive to foreign capital. This means the U.S. must work harder than ever to maintain leadership.

Policy Uncertainty: Foreign direct investment represents long-term bets on country economic futures. Investors place high premiums on stability and predictability. Abrupt domestic or international policy shifts—whether related to trade, tariffs, taxes, or regulation—create uncertainty that powerfully disincentivizes companies considering multi-billion-dollar, multi-decade investments.

Program Criticisms

While SelectUSA has many supporters, it has faced scrutiny regarding its structure, effectiveness, and government role.

Duplication Concerns: A persistent critique argues that SelectUSA’s federal-level investment promotion activities may duplicate work already being done well by thousands of state and local economic development organizations. The argument suggests these local entities have deeper understanding of their communities’ specific assets and needs, and federal resources might be better spent on broader investment climate improvements like education, infrastructure, or tax reform.

Causality Questions: Measuring precise impact of any government promotion program is notoriously difficult. Critics argue it’s impossible to know for certain how many SelectUSA-facilitated investments would have happened anyway. Macroeconomic factors—market size, exchange rates, relative economic growth—are powerful drivers that may outweigh program effects. While SelectUSA’s “client-verified” metric attempts to counter this argument, fundamental questions about counterfactuals remain valid debate points.

Funding and Status: SelectUSA was created by executive order and for many years its funding wasn’t a distinct congressional appropriations line item but rather allocated from within ITA’s broader budget. Funding has grown from less than $1 million in early years to around $10 million recently, relatively small within federal budget context. This has led to periodic congressional debates over funding levels and whether the program should be formally codified into law for more permanent status.

National Security Balance

Perhaps the most complex challenge facing U.S. investment policy is navigating inherent tensions between economic openness and national security. While SelectUSA actively welcomes foreign investors, other government arms carefully scrutinize those same investments for potential threats.

CFIUS Review: The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is a powerful, interagency committee reviewing certain foreign investment transactions to identify and mitigate potential national security risks. CFIUS has authority to impose deal conditions or even recommend presidential blocking of transactions.

Policy Duality: This creates what congressional reports term “duality in U.S. investment policy.” The government must continuously balance maintaining open, non-discriminatory investment climates to reap FDI’s immense economic benefits while protecting critical U.S. industries, technologies, and infrastructure from adversarial foreign power control. This tension is particularly acute regarding investments from state-owned enterprises or firms with close foreign government ties, especially from strategic competitors like China.

Evolving Landscape: This policy balance isn’t static. “National security” definitions have expanded recently to include supply chain resilience, critical mineral dependencies, and technological leadership issues. Congress has enacted legislation strengthening and expanding CFIUS review scope. More recently, policy landscapes have evolved further to include regulating certain outbound U.S. investments in sensitive technology sectors in “countries of concern,” demonstrating increasingly complex economic and security interest interplay.

The Investment Ecosystem

Understanding modern U.S. economic statecraft requires recognizing how SelectUSA fits within broader investment policy frameworks. SelectUSA acts as the “gas pedal” for FDI, working to accelerate investment into the country. CFIUS acts as the “brake,” ensuring investment doesn’t come at national security expense.

Foreign investor journeys in America don’t end with handshakes at SelectUSA Summits—they must also successfully navigate national security apparatus scrutiny. Long-term U.S. investment policy success depends on careful calibration and coordination of these essential, sometimes conflicting functions.

Industry Focus and Specialization

SelectUSA recognizes that different industries have unique characteristics, challenges, and opportunities in international markets. The program has developed specialized approaches for key sectors.

Priority Industries

Advanced Manufacturing: With the resurgence of American manufacturing, SelectUSA focuses heavily on attracting foreign companies to establish or expand manufacturing operations. This includes everything from automotive and aerospace to industrial machinery and advanced materials production.

Clean Energy and Environmental Technology: As global emphasis on sustainability grows, SelectUSA actively courts foreign investment in renewable energy, energy storage, electric vehicles, and environmental cleanup technologies. The program helps foreign companies navigate complex energy regulations and connect with appropriate federal incentive programs.

Information and Communication Technology: The technology sector represents a major focus area, particularly for companies developing software, semiconductors, telecommunications equipment, and digital services. SelectUSA helps technology companies understand visa requirements for skilled workers and intellectual property protections.

Life Sciences and Healthcare: Foreign pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies receive specialized assistance navigating FDA regulations, clinical trial requirements, and healthcare reimbursement systems.

Aerospace and Defense: This sector requires particularly careful navigation given national security considerations. SelectUSA works closely with defense and aerospace companies to ensure they understand both opportunities and limitations in this regulated industry.

Regional Strategies

SelectUSA recognizes that different regions offer different advantages and works to match foreign investor needs with appropriate U.S. locations.

Manufacturing Belt: Traditional manufacturing regions in the Midwest and parts of the South offer established supplier networks, skilled industrial workforces, and competitive costs for manufacturing operations.

Technology Corridors: Areas like Silicon Valley, Seattle, Boston, and Austin provide access to venture capital, top-tier universities, and technology talent pools essential for innovation-focused companies.

Energy Regions: Texas, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and other energy-producing states offer advantages for companies in oil and gas, renewables, and energy infrastructure development.

Logistics Hubs: Regions with major ports, airports, and transportation networks provide advantages for companies requiring efficient supply chain access.

Digital Transformation

SelectUSA has embraced digital tools and platforms to extend its reach and improve service delivery.

Virtual Engagement

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated SelectUSA’s adoption of virtual service delivery models that have proven valuable beyond the crisis period.

Virtual Summits and Events: While in-person events remain important, virtual components allow broader participation from companies and organizations that might not otherwise attend due to travel costs or time constraints.

Digital Matchmaking: Online platforms facilitate initial connections between foreign investors and U.S. economic development organizations before more expensive in-person meetings.

Webinar Series: Regular online educational sessions cover topics like regulatory changes, market opportunities, and investment processes, reaching global audiences efficiently.

Data and Analytics

SelectUSA increasingly leverages data analytics to improve its services and measure impact.

Investment Tracking: Sophisticated databases track investment projects from initial contact through completion, providing better understanding of process effectiveness and bottlenecks.

Market Intelligence: Data analytics help identify emerging investment trends, source country patterns, and industry shifts that inform program strategy.

Performance Metrics: Advanced measurement systems provide more precise tracking of program impact and return on investment for taxpayers.

State and Local Partnerships

While SelectUSA operates at the federal level, its effectiveness depends heavily on partnerships with state and local economic development organizations.

Collaborative Framework

Information Sharing: SelectUSA provides states and localities with intelligence about potential investors and global investment trends while receiving local market knowledge and available incentive information.

Joint Marketing: Federal platforms amplify state and local marketing messages while local organizations provide ground-level expertise and relationship building.

Resource Coordination: SelectUSA helps coordinate federal resources and programs that complement state and local incentive packages and support services.

Success Factors

The most successful state and local partners tend to share certain characteristics:

Clear Value Propositions: They can articulate specific advantages their locations offer to particular types of investors.

Professional Capabilities: They have dedicated staff with international experience and language capabilities.

Incentive Alignment: Their incentive programs are competitive and clearly structured.

Follow-Through: They provide reliable post-investment support to ensure foreign companies succeed and potentially expand further.

Future Directions

As the global economy evolves, SelectUSA continues adapting its strategies and services to meet changing needs.

Emerging Opportunities

Reshoring and Friend-Shoring: Global supply chain disruptions have prompted many companies to reconsider their production and sourcing strategies. SelectUSA is positioning America as an attractive destination for companies seeking to reduce supply chain risks by moving operations closer to major markets or to allied countries.

Green Economy Transition: The global shift toward sustainability creates opportunities to attract investment in clean energy, electric vehicles, energy storage, and environmental technologies. SelectUSA is developing specialized programs to capitalize on these trends.

Digital Economy Growth: As digital services become increasingly important in global trade, SelectUSA is adapting to help attract investment in software development, data centers, cybersecurity, and other digital economy sectors.

Strategic Challenges

Competition Intensification: Other countries are becoming more sophisticated in their investment attraction efforts, requiring SelectUSA to continuously improve its value proposition and service delivery.

Geopolitical Complexity: Rising tensions between major powers complicate investment relationships and require more careful navigation of national security considerations.

Resource Constraints: Federal budget pressures may limit SelectUSA’s ability to expand services and compete with better-funded foreign investment promotion agencies.

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