RESHORING: ITS INFLUENCE ON THE TERRITORIAL AND PRODUCTION STRUCTURE OF THE US MANUFACTURING

Abstract

The decline in the share of manufacturing in the US GDP in recent decades due to the rapid growth of the tertiary sector, a sharp increase in imports, outsourcing and offshoring of the industry have led to a change in its territorial-production structure, degradation of a number of industrial complexes, and a partial loss of competitive advantages on the global market. The relocation of industrial facilities outside the country took place for such reasons as the low cost of resources and labor in developing countries. In the course of outsourcing and offshoring, American multinational companies have created a complex network of industrial facilities in many countries of the world, mainly in developing and emerging countries. Deindustrialization led to a decrease in the technological level and industrial infrastructure in the US manufacturing industry, which contributed to the deterioration of the country's trade balance, an increase in the budget deficit, and growing dependence upon the world market conditions. The decline in production occurred primarily in labor-intensive and resource-intensive industries, but it practically did not affect production with high added value. Resource price volatility and rising labor costs in developing countries have contributed to the ‗return‘ of enterprises to the United States. The revival of American industry is in line with industry 4.0, based on the accelerated introduction of breakthrough digital technologies. The new industrialization should provide large-scale structural changes not only in industry, but also in the economy as a whole. Reshoring has an impact on the territorial structure of the economy because the most attractive for new industrial facilities are centers with less than 1 million residents, and not the US largest cities that have a complex territorial-production structure burdened with social and environmental problems.