US, EU firms discover home truths

The number of reported cases of companies that have returned their manufacturing operations back home is limited. There are around 100 in the US, even fewer in Europe.

In July, the Financial Times described the trend among United Kingdom companies as "modest". Meanwhile, French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said recently that "only a few" French companies have decided to go down this road, or given it serious thought.

Ioana Kraft, general manager of the Shanghai office of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, says:"I have not heard of any major reshoring moves recently (among our members). I recall one or two companies having done so in 2012, but nothing in 2013."

Yet even such fledgling moves hint at the changing dynamic of the global playing field. The US, for example, now has highly competitive energy prices, and its workers are among the most highly skilled and efficient in the world.

According to Harry C. Moser, founder and president of the US-based Reshoring Initiative, a nonprofit organization, Europe is starting to follow in the footsteps of the trailblazing Americans. In this context, the trail being blazed can seem more like a retreat to safer shores.

"Europe is behind the US, but it's starting to push hard," says Moser. "It is spreading in the Netherlands and France, and there is interest in the UK, Switzerland, Italy and Belgium."

Local academics say they expect it to keep gaining momentum.

"This reshoring trend is quite prominent, and it's going to continue in the near future," says Xu Bin, a professor of economics and finance at the China Europe International Business School, which has its main campus in Shanghai.