De-globalisation, value chains and reshoring

This chapter aims to review the debate on de-globalisation and to present some preliminary evidence that reconsiders the value of a manufacturing activity in light of the current geopolitical turmoil and new technological availabilities. The outcome has been a more critical approach to globalisation as businesses have also started to weigh the costs and benefits of coordinating worldwide production processes with changing markets and emerging new technologies. The reconfiguration of global value chains is also led by geopolitical and trade forces. Reshoring has become something of a buzzword over the last few years. The American media flagged up that some large American multi-national enterprises, such as General Electrics and Caterpillar, as well as the largest US retailer Walmart, were bringing manufacturing operations or stocking back home to be able to seal production as being ‘Made in USA’.