US woos industrial capital

Under the "America First" policy of US President Donald Trump, the flow of capital to real industry in the United States seems to be a long-term trend.

The sudden switch from the former president's embracing of free trade, regional at least, to the incumbent's protectionist practice will definitely influence the investment decisions of many enterprises. The US remains the most important market, given its size and consumption level, and few multinational corporations can afford to ignore the country.

Masayoshi Son, founder and president of Softbank Group, a multinational telecommunications and internet corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and Terry Guo, founder and chairman of Foxconn Technology Group, a multinational electronics contract manufacturing company headquartered in New Taipei City of Taiwan, China, said recently the two corporations will jointly invest a total of $57 billion in the US. Guo said the new investment will probably create 30,000 to 50,000 jobs.

The advancement of smart and automated industrial technologies, to some extent, has eased the concerns of enterprises such as Foxconn about the high cost of labor in the US, as industrial robots are replacing humans in more and more jobs. Also, the low cost of energy, resources and land in the US, as well as the comparatively mature business environment can help offset the high labor costs.

Re-industrialization is an inevitable choice for the US as it seeks to recover from the financial crisis in 2008. It is already a consensus in the US that industry, especially high-end manufacturing, is a necessary supporting pillar of a strong country and exactly what the US needs to regain its lost economic status.

It is predictable that the Trump administration will roll out more supportive policies as carrots to attract capital, technology and talent from around the world.