Which major US companies have relocated their headquarters to other countries?
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1. Summary of the results
Based on the analyses provided, numerous major US companies have relocated their headquarters to other countries, primarily through a practice called corporate inversion to avoid paying higher US tax rates.
Confirmed companies that have relocated include:
- Medtronic - moved to Ireland [1] [2] [3]
- Burger King - moved abroad through Restaurant Brands International [1] [2] [4]
- Budweiser - no longer headquartered in the US [2] [4]
- AbbVie - relocated to Ireland [5] [3]
- Samsonite - moved overseas [1]
- Carnival Corporation - involved in inversion [6]
- XL Group PLC and Garmin Ltd. - reincorporated in low-tax countries [6]
Additional companies mentioned as no longer being American-headquartered:
- Purina, McDermott, Seagate Technology, Good Humor, Frigidaire, Actavis/Allergan, Lucky Strike [2]
- Tupperware, Firestone, Ben & Jerry's, 7-Eleven, Smithfield Foods, IBM's PC business, AMC Theatres, General Electric appliances, Trader Joe's, Holiday Inn, Hoover, and Sunglass Hut [4]
Primary destinations for these relocations include Ireland, Bermuda, and Switzerland due to their significantly lower corporate tax rates [6].
2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints
The original question lacks important context about when these relocations occurred and the policy responses that followed. A crucial missing piece is that since the 2017 Trump tax cuts, no major American corporation has inverted overseas [7], suggesting the relocations were primarily a pre-2017 phenomenon.
Different perspectives on the impact:
- Corporate viewpoint: Companies relocated to remain competitive globally by reducing tax burdens that were significantly higher in the US compared to countries like Ireland (17-18% vs 25% for Pfizer) [8]
- Policy critic viewpoint: These moves represent lost tax revenue for the US government and demonstrate how multinational corporations benefit while regular Americans are hurt [5]
- Policy supporter viewpoint: The 2017 tax relief successfully kept American companies and jobs in America by addressing the tax disadvantage [7]
Who benefits from different narratives:
- Multinational corporations benefit from narratives that justify tax optimization strategies
- Political figures who supported tax reform benefit from evidence that their policies stopped corporate departures
- Tax policy critics benefit from highlighting ongoing corporate tax avoidance despite policy changes
3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement
The original question itself is neutral and factual - it simply asks for information about corporate relocations. However, the question could be misleading by omission if used without proper temporal context.
Potential bias in the sources:
- One source appears to have political bias by crediting Trump's tax cuts with stopping inversions while simultaneously arguing these same policies increased offshoring (p2_s2 vs p1_s2)
- The framing varies significantly between sources - some present relocations as legitimate business strategy while others frame them as tax avoidance schemes
- Some analyses focus on successful policy intervention [7] while others emphasize ongoing corporate tax avoidance [5] [3]
The most significant potential for misinformation lies in timing context - discussing these relocations without noting that the practice largely stopped after 2017 tax reform could create a misleading impression about current corporate behavior [7].