US Companies Look Towards China, India, Brazil For New Customers

October 5, 2009

The Los Angeles Times reports, "With debt-burdened American consumers cutting back in response to the recession, many U.S. companies are increasingly looking outward, toward fast-developing countries such as China, India and Brazil." But instead of "seeing these nations primarily as cheap producers of goods to sell to Americans, U.S. corporate leaders see them as potential customers for American products and services." The trend could be "a source of new jobs and investments in the United States, but it is unclear how large that benefit may turn out to be." The push overseas is "taking place among small American manufacturing firms as well as giant multinational corporations." And it reflects "what may be the beginning of a shift in the global economy, a rebalancing in which the world relies less on U.S. consumers and more on consumer spending in places such as China."