Last year Japanese companies invested in foreign factories and real estate worth $14.3 billion, more than double the $6 billion in 1985.

Outsourcing is the practice of subcontracting some manufacturing work to foreign and domestic factories with lower labor costs.

In the 19th and 20th Centuries, many residents worked in foreign factories.

If stores cancel orders for additional imports, foreign factories might slow down but there would be little effect on the American economy.

It was estimated that women who'd returned from foreign factories owned nearly half of all shops and cafes in rural villages.

Green Mama, though made mostly in foreign factories, plays on that nostalgia.

Though they are made in China, foreign rather than Chinese factories do most of the work, he said.

While some analysts say Reebok's foreign factories treat workers better than most in those countries, some human-rights groups call for far higher wages.

"We are going to do our homework," he said, including vetting foreign factories and in some cases investing money to improve food-safety standards.

Q. And the jobs that are lost to foreign factories?