Among states, Texas was the top destination in 2024, with 24,722 jobs announced in 125 cases, or 11% of the national total.

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

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Posted by btaylor.media@gmail.com on 06/16/2025 5:24 pm  

Reshoring Initiative (RI) has tracked the announced plans of US companies to reshore manufacturing work since the early 2010’s. In its new 2024 summary and forecast for 2025, tariffs weigh heavily on company decisions. If you’re rooting for more domestic manufacturing, and we certainly are, the current tariff “strategy” is producing mixed results.

On the plus side, RI tracked 244,00 reshoring and ‘foreign direct investment’ (FDI)-announced jobs in 2024, down from the 2023 high of 349,000 jobs, but nevertheless a continuation of the strong momentum to bring work back onshore. Since 2010, RI has measured over two million announced jobs, and those, RI estimates over 1.7 have been filled.

Among US states, Texas was the top US destination in 2024, with 24,722 jobs announced in 125 cases, or 11% of the national total.

By way of industries and products, RI notes that “Significant growth continued in “essential product” industries in 2024. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other government incentives continued to support growth in Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components and Computer & Electronic Products, driven by semiconductors, EV batteries, and solar, accounting for approximately 67% of all reshoring and FDI job announcements in 2024.” 

In fact, RI found that much of the rationale for reshoring and FDI in 2024 pointed to incentives: 

2024 Top Cited Factors: 

1. Government Incentives (736) 

2. Skilled Workforce (357) 

3. Proximity to Market (307) 

4. Supply Chain Risk (261) 

5. Impact on domestic economy (252)

But as Biden-era incentives wane, RI concludes that “reshoring and FDI are increasingly motivated by the threat and reality of tariffs. The number of firm cases citing Government Incentives as a factor in 2025* is down by 54% from 2024 while the number citing Tariffs as a factor is up 454%.”

RI forecasts reshoring and FDI-announced jobs to fall off significantly in 2025, to 174,000 jobs. So as much as tariffs are forcing US companies to cite more work onshore, the flipside is that tariff uncertainty is dampening enthusiasm to add manufacturing jobs overall. Harry Moser, founder and president of Reshoring Initiative, notes in the report that, “Without a stable, long-term policy framework, companies are hesitant to make irreversible commitments to increased U.S. manufacturing.” 

I asked Moser about a correlation between tariffs and RI’s lower 2025 forecast, and he confirmed that tariffs are likely causing a “slow down in the rate of reshoring”, that companies are “announcing plans that will only proceed when tariffs are firm.”

Moser favors a comprehensive industrial policy, to include “Incorporating a Value-Added Tax (VAT)” as a tool, as outlined in the report. I’d be more indelicate and say that tariffs are an important component of a new US industrial policy that picks US manufacturing “to win” — but that also do no harm to US firms they’re designed to help.

But until US companies have more certainty about what tariffs rates will be, and for what products and services, it’s evident from Moser (and others) that corporate leaders will be more hesitant to announce reshoring plans.  

Regardless of a short-term blip, it’s also likely that reshoring announcements will again resume at a torrid pace. Proximity to market, supply-chain risk, and impact on domestic economy – factors cited RI in reshoring jobs – are too compelling to ignore or not plan for. (We’ll dig deeper into what’s motivating both OEMs and contract manufacturers and review RI’s most recent reshoring survey, in the weeks ahead.)

It’s also up to us to ensure that US companies have options when deciding to bring work home. Showcasing Houston manufacturers, as reshoring options, is core to what we do. More on progress next time.  

Bart Taylor is executive director of the GHMA and founder of InsideMFG. Reach him at btaylor.media@gmail.com.