How many multinational firms have reshored or offshored operations in the U.S. between 2017 and 2025?
Executive summary
No single, authoritative count of how many multinational firms reshored or offshored operations in the U.S. between 2017 and 2025 is presented in the available sources; most reporting and industry datasets describe trends, intentions, project counts, jobs, or region/sector breakdowns rather than a firm-level tally (not found in current reporting). The Reshoring Initiative and related 2025 surveys document growing interest and many projects — for example, the Reshoring Initiative reports cumulative reshoring and FDI projects by year and region but does not publish a definitive firm-count covering 2017–2025 in the materials provided [1] [2].
1. Numbers aren’t being tallied the way you’d expect — project counts and jobs dominate coverage
Major public sources and industry groups track reshoring as projects, investment dollars, or jobs created rather than counting unique multinational firms that moved operations. The Reshoring Initiative’s data and reports emphasize reshoring + foreign direct investment (FDI) by region and industry and note trends for 2024–2025, but the PDF and site excerpts show charts and project tallies rather than a simple firm count for 2017–2025 [1] [2]. Other outlets cite job totals (millions since 2010) and sector project counts (e.g., almost 200 foreign investment projects in industrial equipment from 2022–April 2025), indicating project-level tracking is the norm [3].
2. Corporate intentions far outpace completed moves — surveys show planning, not final tallies
Multiple consulting and survey sources show that CEOs and contract manufacturers increasingly plan or quote reshoring activity, but survey intent differs from executed reshoring. Kearney’s 2025 Reshoring Index and associated survey found that the share of CEOs planning to reshore rose year‑over‑year (a 15 percentage‑point rise in those planning to reshore part of their operations), yet Kearney also warns that intentions exceed on‑the‑ground execution [4]. Industry surveys (Reshoring Initiative/Regions Recruiting) report many firms are evaluating or quoting reshoring and that contract manufacturers saw 59% reshoring or quoting activity, which captures interest and RFQs rather than unique completed firm relocations [5] [6].
3. Tariffs, subsidies and acts changed incentives — but reporting emphasizes effects, not firm counts
Policy moves (CHIPS Act, IRA, tariff surges in 2025) altered reshoring dynamics and caused many announcements and projects, yet analyses focus on investment amounts, jobs, and sectors (semiconductors, medical devices, autos) rather than a comprehensive headcount of multinationals that moved operations [7] [8] [9]. News coverage in 2025 highlights that many projects were still in planning or limbo and that manufacturing investment in 2025 was roughly equal to 2024 according to Reshoring Initiative data — again a headline about investment levels not unique firm counts [10].
4. Conflicting perspectives: optimism about projects versus caution about scale and execution
Pro‑reshoring voices stress growing project announcements, job creation and FDI inflows (e.g., sectors with hundreds of projects and millions of reshored/FDI‑created jobs since 2010), while critics and consultants note structural cost gaps, workforce shortages, and a gap between intent and follow‑through [3] [11] [7]. Kearney and others explicitly describe a “reality check”: more CEOs plan reshoring but the ecosystem and workforce constraints limit rapid conversion of plans into sustained, large‑scale relocations [4] [11].
5. What the sources can and cannot answer about 2017–2025 firm counts
Available reporting provides useful proxies — project counts, jobs created, sector FDI totals, and survey percentages — but the provided sources do not publish a consolidated number of distinct multinational firms that either reshored to the U.S. or offshored from it during 2017–2025. Therefore, a precise firm-count cannot be supplied from these materials (not found in current reporting). To produce such a count would require merging multiple databases (Reshoring Initiative project logs, national FDI filings, firm press releases) and reconciling duplicates, something the present sources summarize but do not deliver as a single figure [1] [3].
6. How to get closer to the answer if you need a number
Use project‑level datasets as a starting point (Reshoring Initiative, FDI project lists from financial press and national agencies) and de‑duplicate by company name and year to convert projects into unique firm counts; supplement with Kearney, NIST and consultancy decks that list major corporate announcements and sector tallies to triangulate intent vs execution [1] [4] [8]. Note that even professional compilers emphasize limitations: survey intent inflates expectations versus completed moves [4].
Limitations: This article cites only the provided sources. The sources document trends, projects, job numbers and survey responses but do not include a definitive count of unique multinational firms that reshored or offshored in the U.S. between 2017 and 2025 (not found in current reporting).