UK biggest foreign investor in US, says CBI study
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The CBI report found the UK invested $449 billion (£346m) in the US at the end of 2014. That was $76bn more than the next largest investor Japan and nearly $200bn more than Canada.
It means the UK holds a 15 per cent slice of the $2.9 trillion of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the US, with Indian and Chinese FDI combined reaching just under 1 per cent.
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Hide AdCBI international director Ben Digby said the investment was a sign that the “economic special relationship” continued to go from strength to strength.
“As the government negotiates our exit from the EU, a clear strategy will be needed to boost trade with partners, old and new, across the globe,” he added.
“Markets should be carefully prioritised, in consultation with business, to lay the foundations for deep and comprehensive future trade and investment relationships, and the USA must be at the top of that list.
“The UK stood to be up to £10bn a year better off upon implementation of the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the USA and the European Union, so thegovernment should also explore the possibility of joining the final deal, as a third party.”
A total of 1,029,700 jobs were supported by British companies across America, with nearly a quarter in the manufacturing industry.
Texas was the state with the most jobs supported by British companies, hitting more than 100,000, followed by California and New York.
Meanwhile, services exports from the US to the UK rose 6 per cent to $66.9bn last year, while imports from British services climbed by the same proportion to reach $53bn.