The Two Way Street
Wealthy, large, and dynamic, no country in the world attracts more foreign direct investment (FDI) than the United States. Virtually every country in the world has an investment presence in the US, Ireland included. To this point, Corporate Ireland’s total investment stock in the United States—$322 billion in 2023—was greater than the total stock of Spain ($81 billion), Belgium ($73 billion) and China for that matter ($28 billion). Irish affiliates in the US generated some $183 billion in sales in 2022, more than Italy ($59 billion) and Belgium ($47 billion). These same affiliates contributed to roughly $5 billion in R&D expenditures. All of this bestows a host of benefits to the US and US workers in terms of investment and employment, and is a reminder that Irish-US bi-lateral engagement is a two-way street.