BUSINESS NEWS JULY 29, 2020 / 6:05 PM / UPDATED 5 HOURS AGO

Exclusive: White House to lure U.S. firms to Latam from Asia in nearshoring drive, senior adviser says

Andrea Shalal, Cassandra Garrison
4 MIN READ

WASHINGTON/BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - The Trump administration is readying a new initiative that would use financial incentives to encourage U.S. firms to move production facilities out of Asia and into the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, a senior White House adviser said on Wednesday.

The project could bring $30 billion to $50 billion in U.S. investment back to the Americas, Mauricio Claver-Carone told Reuters in an interview, adding that infrastructure, energy and transportation could be the first potential areas of focus.

“We’re essentially creating a ‘Back to the Americas’ initiative,” he said. That would include both returning some facilities outsourced to China back to the United States and basing others in Latin America and the Caribbean in a drive for more so-called nearshoring, Claver-Carone said.

He gave no details about the scope of possible incentives, but pointed to the administration’s use of a $765 million loan to encourage Eastman Kodak Co (KODK.N) to produce pharmaceutical ingredients in the United States to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. President Donald Trump has made “Buy America” policies a centerpiece of his administration since taking office in 2017, with those efforts accelerating sharply since the turmoil created by the pandemic.

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