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Old 07-19-2010, 03:40 PM
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Default British companies' reputation in the US is under threat, warns Washington overseas in

British companies' reputation in the US is under threat, warns Washington overseas investment group

07-15-2010 01:06 AM

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Thu, 2010-07-15 09:04


British companies' reputation in the US is under threat, warns Washington overseas investment group


British companies' reputation in the US is under threat, warns Washington overseas investment group

Source:The Guardian

President of the Organisation for International Investment tells UK firms to beware anti-British rhetoric in forthcoming US mid-term elections in the wake of the BP oil spill.
A Washington-based advocate of foreign investment today warned of the potential damage to the reputation of British companies in the United States in the wake of the rhetoric surrounding the BP oil-spill disaster.
Ahead of David Cameron's visit to the US capital next week, Nancy McLernon, chief executive of the Organisation for International Investment (OFII), said US politicians were "wrapping themselves in the flag" ahead of mid-term elections in November to appeal to American voters.
McLernon, who is in London for a series of meetings with British business leaders to discuss the political climate in the US, said the economic downturn as well as the political vulnerability of the Obama administration had hardened the anti-British language. "Some politicians are taking this tragedy and taking an opportunity to grandstand on patriotism – that is happening, without question. In hard times, there is a desire to protect your own. When people are using the old name [for BP], British Petroleum, it is an attempt to promote patriotism and a pro-American view. Both parties have fallen victim to trying to tug on those emotional strings. Right now it is a political jungle out there. No one knows who will come out on top in November."
She said it was easier for US politicians to stir up xenophobia because Americans often have a less globalised worldview but also warned the tenor of the debate could cause foreign investment to drop. "I do think there is less education in general about the rest of the world. There is much more that is unknown to the average American. And there are those who hark back to the 1950s, when the US could call the shots and was always the dominant power."
In meetings with groups including the CBI and the Chartered Institute of Taxation, she said the issue of anti-British sentiment would be on the agenda, and that she would be pressing companies to stress the benefits that they bring from investing in the US, including jobs. "I don't think they should shy away from being British," she said.
The latest British company under scrutiny in the US is GlaxoSmithKline, which is facing a public grilling over the safety of its diabetes treatment Avandia.
President Obama caused anger when he was perceived to be deliberately using the name "British Petroleum" in his criticism of the company, a name BP has not used since 1998. Sarah Palin, widely tipped as a candidate for the next Republican presidential nomination, has also seized on the BP catastrophe to score political points. Despite the fact her husband Todd Palin worked for BP for 18 years, she urged people in the Gulf of Mexico to "learn from Alaska's lesson with foreign oil companies." She added: "Don't naively trust – verify." The debate in the US media has widely focused on BP being a "foreign company."
Cameron, who has been criticised in Britain for a "failure" to stand up to Washington over BP will work to mend relations during his visit on 20 July. BP is waiting to find out whether a newly installed well cap has managed to stem the flow of oil into the gulf.
Figures supplied by the OFII show that close to 1 million people are employed by the US subsidiaries of British companies, making them the largest overseas employer by nationality. British firms in the US generate sales of over $450bn. The organisation said that foreign direct investment in the US fell by around 50% last year








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