Signal Reshoring and AI Power 2026 US Supply Chains — but reshoring strains persist

Summary

Some 57% of chief executives are reshoring or restructuring their supply chains, while 47% of surveyed firms have already reduced or plan to reduce US operations under the cumulative burden of tariffs. A practitioner benchmark holds that reshoring is economically viable only above an automation threshold of 60% to 70%. A survey of over 500 manufacturers by the Reshoring Initiative in early 2025 cited a weaker dollar, lower corporate tax rates, regulatory reform, and new 15% tariffs on all imports as reshoring drivers, alongside the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's permanent full equipment expensing and R&D expensing provisions. Some 80% of 600 manufacturing executives surveyed plan to invest at least 20% of improvement budgets in smart manufacturing, and 22% plan physical AI deployment within two years, up from 9% currently, according to the Manufacturing Leadership Council. More than $500 billion in private-sector semiconductor and data center commitments had been announced as of July 2025, with domestic capacity projected to triple by 2032 and over 500,000 jobs expected. Some 78% of manufacturers cited trade uncertainty as their top concern in the third quarter of 2025, and immigrant workers filled nearly one in four US manufacturing production jobs in 2024.