Is Reshoring Becoming More Feasible?

While active evaluation of reshoring remains the dominant stance, reshoring intent is gradually moving from informal discussions to execution, according to a KMPG survey.

The survey of 300 U.S. C-suite leaders (from organizations with over $1 billion in  annual revenue) taken over February and March found 39% expect to move faster on reshoring/nearshoring in the next two to three years as part of supply chain adjustments.

While early-stage/informal discussions on reshoring declined sharply (33% in a September-2025 survey to 19% in latest survey), a notable increase was seen in formal planning in progress (7% to 17%) and active execution of relocation plans increased (3% to 9%) in the current survey.

KMPG said the shift shows continued uncertainty around trade is “translating into concrete action rather than exploratory talk.” However, the overall findings show organizations “still weighing cost, feasibility, and timing before fully committing.”

High labor costs (weighted average 15%), high capital investments costs (weighted average 13%), uncertainty around long term tariff policy and trade stability (weighted average 12%), and deeply integrated global supply chains (weighted average 12%), were viewed as the top challenges faced while shifting production and employment to the U.S. in the current tariff environment. Most organizations (60%) expect reshoring to take one to three years.

Reshoring Trends Continue in the US, Data Suggests

The White House last month posted of list of 143 companies investing in U.S. production, distribution centers, or other infrastructure since Trump’s second term began.

A Bain survey of 166 CEOs and COOs from late 2024 found 81% indicating their companies have plans to bring supply chains closer to market by nearshoring or reshoring, up from 63% in 2022.

Bain said, “The acceleration of the reshoring trends underlines how heightened geopolitical turbulence and pressures for greater sustainability and reduced carbon footprints, alongside the post-pandemic goal to deliver greater resilience in supply chains, have disrupted the previous business rationale for low-cost offshore manufacturing hubs, tilting the balance towards operations closer to home markets.”

Respondents to a survey of over 500 manufacturers conducted by the Reshoring Initiative in early 2025 indicated that several factors could encourage further reshoring to the U.S. These include a larger pool of highly skilled U.S. workers, a weaker dollar, lower corporate tax rates, regulatory reform, and 15% additional tariffs applied to all imports from all countries. The survey results suggest that if trade policies provide greater certainty — even if they may lead to higher input costs — they could support more investment in U.S. manufacturing.

Of the OEMs surveyed, the top three reasons for reshoring to the U.S. were the benefit of having manufacturing located near engineering, 45%; reduced freight and duty costs, also 45%; and avoiding potential geopolitical risk, 38%.

OECD Warns Against Impacts of Reshoring Supply Chains

However, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned last year that aggressive reshoring of supply chains could decrease global trade by 18% and reduce global real GDP by more than 5% “without consistently improving resilience to disruptions.”

Marion Jansen, head of the OECD’s trade and agriculture directorate, told the Financial Times, “In the past, we perhaps underestimated the risk of over-dependency on a single trade partner, but swinging too far towards localizing and avoiding international trade would be another mistake, leaving us exposed to domestic shocks and huge inefficiencies.”