Also: Middle East tensions, Web Summit woes, global corporation tax
Good morning.
A decade ago, Fortune ran a provocative cover story with the title “Positively un-American,” focused on companies that move their headquarters overseas through mergers with smaller companies, largely to escape taxes. Medtronic, which had recently relocated its legal headquarters to Dublin via such an acquisition, was the lead example.
I thought of that cover story Friday when speaking with Albert Manifold, the CEO of CRH, which provides building materials to large infrastructure projects around the world and ranks 459 on the Fortune Global 500. The company is based in Dublin, but Manifold is reorienting it toward the United States as fast as he can, starting with the recent move of its primary stock listing to the New York Stock Exchange from the London Stock Exchange. Speaking from Ireland, he explained:
“A decade ago, 50% of our profits were made in the U.S. Today, it is 75%. It’s inevitable that in another 10 years, it will be 85% to 90%…We are an American corporation. We employ 45,000 people over there. I spend a significant amount of my time over there. I live over there.”
Get the point? The CRH story is a sign of how dramatically the U.S. business environment has changed in the last decade, driven in part by massive policy changes overseen by two very different presidents. The Trump administration eliminated the incentive to relocate overseas with its large corporate tax cut in 2017, and began the onshoring drive with a series of protectionist tariffs. The Biden administration shepherded three game-changing pieces of legislation–the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Chips and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act–which together provide massive incentives to U.S. investment. Manifold says:
“There’s a very significant re-industrialization of America taking place…This is the silver lining of de-globalization. You see the onshoring of critical manufacturing back into the U.S., not only in semiconductors but also in bioscience, pharmaceuticals, and automobiles. There are over $200 billion worth of infrastructure projects, privately funded, at this moment in time, and it’s going to continue for the decade ahead…Then you have these three legislative packages, which combine not just to spend more money on infrastructure but also to encourage investment back into the United States in critical, high-end manufacturing. And the U.S. is the big winner in all of this. The U.S. has the capacity and the appetite and the ambition to onshore back into the United States, to bring back critical supply chain manufacturing, delivering back into the heartland of America high-paid jobs and critical component parts that will help build the world of tomorrow.”
And that’s from an Irishman. By the way, Manifold says another factor driving his expanding business in the U.S. is extreme weather:
“Time and time again, we find governments and states reaching out…trying to find solutions to deal with some of the weather problems they have.”
More news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
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U.S. ready to respond if Israel-Hamas war escalates
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that America was poised to “respond decisively” to any escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict. “We are taking steps to make sure that we can effectively defend our people,” Blinken said–but he stressed that the U.S. doesn’t want escalation. "We don’t want to see a second or third front develop," he added. "We don’t want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire. But if that happens, we’re ready for it." CNBC
Web Summit boss quits
Paddy Cosgrave, the CEO of Web Summit–one of Europe’s biggest tech conferences–has stepped down after his comments on the Hamas attacks in Israel earlier this month led to a backlash that saw Alphabet, Meta, and other major attendees pull out of the event. As he vacated his position, Cosgrave apologized for "any hurt caused" by his earlier tweet, in which he accused Israel of "war crimes." Web Summit is still due to go ahead next month in Lisbon, Portugal. Bloomberg
Global corporation tax
In 2021, 140 countries and territories signed a landmark agreement that would set a minimum global corporation tax of 15%–and stop multinational firms like Apple and Nike from using tax havens and other legal maneuvers to avoid paying their share. However, an EU-backed tax watchdog said in a Monday report that the OECD-brokered deal risks being undermined by loopholes. AP
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Holidaying Like It’s 2019 Holiday spending is expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels for the first time, with consumers planning to spend an average of $1,652, up 14% from 2022. What does this mean for consumers and retailers? Read here
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