Is the U.S. stealing foreign jobs?

For years, we have been inundated with the message that China, Mexico and India are stealing jobs from American workers. This was the basis of the campaigns of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

The question that is never asked is: is the United States stealing jobs from foreign workers?

According to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), insourced jobs accounted for more than six million jobs in 2014 and about five percent of all private sector jobs in 2016.

Here is a chart taking a look at foreign companies providing jobs in each state in 2014:

U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants to punish American companies leaving the country, but what about the influx of foreign businesses entering the U.S.?

Mark Perry of the AEI had a great comment:

“…the insourcing of production and jobs to the U.S. has a significant and positive impact on our economy, and yet this huge economic stimulus gets almost no attention. All we hear about is the jobs that are allegedly being stolen from us by China and Mexico.”

The globalized economy essentially means that multinational businesses are operating in an international marketplace, where borders are meaningless and provide very little value. The borders may have been established by governments, but commerce has no bounds, and companies are accessing consumers and producers, buyers and sellers worldwide.

American companies may be leaving the country, but foreign businesses are arriving in the U.S., too.

Here is one last chart from the AEI:

It is true that a growing number of U.S. assets are being purchased by foreigners. At the same time, the net worth of American businesses and households is continually increasing.