Section 101(a)15(L), temporary non-immigrant admission to the United States for "an alien who, immediately preceding the time of his application for admission into the United States, has been employed continuously for one year by a firm or corporation or other legal entity or an affiliate or subsidiary thereof and who seeks to enter the United States temporarily in order to continue to render his services to the same employer or a subsidiary or affiliate thereof in a capacity that is managerial, executive, or involves specialized knowledge, and the alien spouse and minor children of any such alien if accompanying him or following to join him." Although these provisions have not yet been tested, the House Judiciary Committee anticipated "that the words 'firm' and 'legal entity' will be interpreted in the board sense to include all bona fide forms of business organizations including partnerships, sole proprietorships, and labor organizations" and that "the petition procedure will be administered speedily and efficiently, so that while review will be thorough, it will not handicap the international companies with undue delays.” Selective Service Regulations The application of U.S. selective service laws and regulations to personnel brought to the United States in conjunction with foreign direct investment has also been an irritant to foreign entrepreneurs. Again, recent revisions in governing laws and regulations have gone far to eliminate this possible barrier. In brief, aliens between 18 and 26 years of age who have been admitted to the United States for permanent residence or who have remained in the United States for a period (or periods) exceeding one year are required to register for the draft under the Military Selective Service Act and to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces if inducted. However, such persons who are in the United States on a temporary basis may, prior to receipt of an induction notice, file an "Application by Alien for Relief From Training and Service in the Armed Forces." Such an application may be filed at any local Selective Service Board. The filing of this "Application" will waive any subsequent order of induction, but also debars the applicant from subsequently becoming a U.S. citizen. An alien registrant may, of course, leave the United States at any time prior to receiving an induction order without in any way violating the Military Selective Service Act. In order to ensure that an alien male subject to the U.S. draft is fully aware of these selective service provisions, he is informed of their application by the U.S. Consulate or Embassy granting his entry to the United States. Furthermore, relevant selective service provisions are carried on visa application forms. Finally, the newly adopted lottery draft system, it should be noted, provides a male alien of draft age with more specific information as to the possibility and timing of a notice of induction. VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS A number of central thoughts emerge from the foregoing discussion of foreign direct investment in the United States. First, direct investment, while no longer a mainspring of our domestic economic progress, is most certainly an economically useful adjunct to domestic capital investment. While the magnitudes are modest in relation to U.S. domestic investment, foreign direct investment, to be attracted to and succeed in the United States, must by definition be at the forefront of new invention and technology. Hence, foreign investment can help expand and improve U.S. productivity, income, and competitiveness. Concurrently, and as part of the movement toward multinational corporate management, production and distribution, it can serve the objective of maximizing the efficient use of the world's capital resources. Second, affirmative Federal and State Government attitudes toward foreign direct investment make good economic and political sense and should be continued. International commercial relationships make for strong ties among countries, perhaps even more so in investment than in trade. Countries with substantial investment interests in the United States, for example, will be circumspect about actions inimical to U.S. investment within their borders. Third, the vastness and complexity of the U.S. market tend to overwhelm potential investors from smaller nations abroad. Efforts to explain the production opportunities created by the U.S. economy and the many means of gaining access to the U.S. market as a domestic producer would serve to increase foreign U.S. investment. Present efforts along these lines are modest and could be intensified to advantage. Fourth, advantages and opportunities for domestic manufacturing in lieu of continued exporting to the United States should be identified and explored more fully as part of current efforts to increase foreign knowledge of the U.S. marketplace and improve the U.S. balance of payments. Capital inflows for direct investment are obviously less volatile than portfolio investment since they are focused on long-term growth rather than short-term returns. Such investment may thus make a more sustained, if more modest, contribution to the improvement of the U.S. payments position. Domestic manufacturing, based on soundly conceived and economically feasible foreign investments, that results in U.S. import saving obviously can convey substantial benefits to the U.S. external payments position. Promotion of such investments, moreover, could not be validly criticized as adverse to international trade expansion. Fifth, fears about antitrust, security issuance regulations, visa problems and the like are exaggerated in terms of the usual foreign investor's interests and, in fact, do not accord with present realities. Enhanced efforts to put these problems in proper perspective could serve to induce more investor interest. |