UK business puts rivals in shade with $570bn US drive

● British business investment stateside worth nearly one-fifth of total amount

Britain remains the single largest foreign investor in the US, supporting more than one million jobs stateside, according to an influential new report out today.

British businesses pumped more than $569 billion (£424.3bn) into America as at the end of 2015, the latest year for which figures are available – a jump of $43bn on 2014.

This represents a hefty 18 per cent of the $3.1 trillion of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the US, says the latest Sterling Assets report from British employers lobby group CBI and US healthcare major, Eli Lilly.

Demonstrating the impact of UK business on America, the report says that the UK figure was $155bn more than the next largest investor – Japan – and $225bn more than America’s closest neighbour, Canada.

It also eclipsed investments from the fast-growing econoand mies of China and India, which amounted to less than 1 per cent of investment in the US.

Despite this strong showing, UK FDI into the US expanded at the slowest rate of the top five investing countries from 2010 to 2015.

The CBI says today that to reverse this, and against the backcloth of President Trump’s impending first UK visit, it wants to see “a commitment to ensure continuity in UK-USA trade and investment ties when the UK leaves the EU”.

The organisation also calls for “immediate actions to deepen trade and investment which don’t require a free trade agreement”, such as greater regulatory cooperation in areas like aviation and financial services.

Ben Digby, CBI international director, said: “It is a source of great pride and credit to the UK and the USA that our two nations have the largest bilateral trade and investment relationship in the world today.

“Worth more than $1tn, it employs over a million people in each of our countries makes communities on both sides of the Atlantic prosperous.”

Digby said the first priority was “protecting what we’ve already got” by ensuring continuity in trade when the UK leaves the EU. “Westminster and Washington must then focus on things that can be done now, such as mutual recognition of professional qualifications, greater regulatory collaboration and making the case for free trade together on the international stage”, he added.

Corinna Peachey, senior director, corporate affairs and market access, Lilly UK, Republic of Ireland & Nordics, said: “As an American business with a large presence in the UK, we are keen to ensure that the [UK] government makes the continued growth of US/UK trade a top priority.

“By implementing the Life Sciences Strategy, the government will send a clear message that the UK remains open for business and committed to remaining a global hub of research and development.

“On the other side of the coin, American exports to the UK totalled $121bn in 2016.”