EU direct investments in the U.S. 2022, by industry
Foreign Direct Investments
Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) are investments made by a business or entity in one country into a company or entity based in another country. The investment can take the form of a physical investment, such as the construction of factories and supplying machinery, or a merger between two foreign companies. According to OECD, the most basic criterion for a foreign direct investment relationship is the investor owning 10 percent or more of the voting stock in the investee company and having control or significant influence on the management of the enterprise.The advocates of foreign direct investments claim they help smaller companies in foreign markets tap into greater financial resources and help the economies of investee countries (developing countries in particular) grow through job creation and knowledge transfer. Critics of FDIs note that investors are drawn to markets with minimal regulations and cheap costs, exploiting environments that may be detrimental to the health and safety of the workers in investee companies.
In the case of direct investments between developed economies such as the European Union and the United States, investments made by EU based investors into the U.S. have increased by more than 300 percent since 2000 and U.S. investments into the EU have increased by over 500 percent during the same period. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would seek to increase FDIs between the two economies even further.