I have had a bunch of vacation travel (with another upcoming) so am a bit behind on some news. The Reshoring Initiative has had an admirable proselytizing activity for quite some time. I’ve met and talked with its President, Harry Moser, a couple of times.
Even before becoming an editor some 25 years ago, I pondered the necessity for a strong manufacturing base (in our country, but each other country, as well) as a strategic advantage. These thoughts married my career in manufacturing with my university studies in international politics and political philosophy. As I watched bean counters take control of companies and send manufacturing off-shore pursuing low wages (and evidently ignoring other ancillary costs), I pondered the effects on the country.
The news here is the Reshoring Initiative 2024 Annual Report. The concern I have about the report (which is the same with publicity about manufacturing investments and jobs announced by the Trump administration) centers on announcements rather than real numbers.
These reservations hold for the second news item below—that of GE Appliances reshoring some jobs it had previously shipped overseas.
The thought is welcome for the US, but we must watch for the reality.
The Reshoring Initiative 2024 Annual Report shows that 244,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs were announced in 2024 via reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI), continuing the nation’s push to rebuild domestic production capacity. While early 2025 job announcements are trending lower, policy stability could quickly unlock another wave of reshoring-driven investment.
Since 2010, over 2 million jobs have been announced as U.S. companies and foreign investors bring manufacturing closer to U.S. customers, driven by rising geopolitical risk, supply chain vulnerabilities, and growing bipartisan support for American industrial competitiveness.
Key Findings from the Report:
- 244,000 jobs were announced in 2024; 1.7 million jobs have been filled since 2010.
- Reshoring by U.S. headquartered companies outpaced FDI by foreign headquartered companies by the largest margin on record in 2024.
- High-tech industries are driving growth: 88% of 2024 jobs were in high or medium-high tech sectors, rising to 90% in early 2025.
- Industries leading in 2024: Computer & Electronics, Electrical Equipment (including EV batteries and solar), and Transportation Equipment.
- Texas, South Carolina, and Mississippi are top 2025 states for reshoring and FDI.
- Asia remains the largest source of reshored + FDI jobs, while South Korea, China, and Germany led among individual countries.
- Tariffs are now a key motivator: Cited in 454% more cases in 2025 vs. 2024. Government incentives cited 49% less as previous subsidies phase out.
- Workforce constraints loom large: U.S. manufacturing apprenticeships rose 83% over the past decade, but far more skilled workers are needed to sustain reshoring growth.
Key risks:
- Policy uncertainty is delaying investment decisions.
- Potential retaliatory tariffs could dampen U.S. export opportunities.
- Low-tech industries remain under-reshored, leaving U.S. supply chains vulnerable for mass-market consumer goods.
- Without comprehensive reforms, U.S. manufacturing costs remain 10–50% higher than offshore competitors, driving most import decisions.
The Reshoring Initiative advocates for a true national industrial policy focused on:
- Massive investment in skilled workforce development (modeled after German apprenticeships).
- A 20% lower USD to improve global cost competitiveness.
- Retention of immediate expensing of capital investments.
- Smarter use of tariffs and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis to drive lasting reshoring.
GE Appliances Reshoring Again!
On June 26, GE Appliances, a Haier Company, announced a $490 million investment to reshore production of washers and washer/dryers from China, creating 800 new full-time jobs in 2027. The Reshoring Initiative offered to highlight this announcement because of GE Appliance’s historic role launching, documenting and making credible U.S. reshoring.
The Reshoring initiative was founded in 2010. In 2012, despite my best efforts, reshoring was still a trickle that no one had heard of. Then I, and I believe hundreds of thousands of others, read Charles Fishman’s article “The Insourcing Boom” in the December 2012 issue of The Atlantic. In great detail, Charles described how GE Appliances reshored appliance production from China to Appliance Park, which employed “a tenth of the people in its heyday.” The article reviewed a broad range of benefits GE Appliances achieved by reshoring. Most memorable to me was the benefit of having manufacturing near engineering. The assembly team and engineering cooperated to simplify appliance design to reduce component cost and assembly time to make U.S. assembly competitive. Even though the Chinese manufacturing cost was still substantially lower, the U.S. total cost was lower due to inventory costs and delivery issues. For years, I quoted the article in my presentations. With this announcement and several earlier investments, Kevin Nolan, CEO GE Appliances, has walked his talk: “I’ve always said, this is just economics, people are going to realize that the savings they thought they had aren’t real, and it’s going to be better and cheaper to make them here.”
Harry Moser, President, Reshoring Initiative
