“The United States ranks first in the Kearney Global FDI Confidence Index(科尔尼全球FDI信心指数),” reads a 20-foot-tall banner hanging outside the Potomac ballroom of the Gaylord convention centre at National Harbour, Maryland. “This is the 14th year in a row!” Another boasted that America has the largest number of quantum startups(量子初创公司); a third that America has the highest levels of venture-capital(风险投资) investment in the world. “That’s serious fuel for innovation!” it adds. The banners hint at how weird the 2026 SelectUSA Investment Summit was. Then Howard Lutnick(霍华德·卢特尼克，美国商务部长), the commerce secretary, took to the stage to explain that America has lots of consumers and deep capital markets. Among those listening, from the VIP section, sat the delegations from Burkina Faso(布基纳法索，西非国家) and Panama(巴拿马，中美洲国家).
“美国在科尔尼全球外国直接投资信心指数中排名第一，”马里兰州国家港盖洛德会展中心波托马克舞厅外悬挂的一条20英尺高的横幅上写道。“这已经是连续第14年了！”另一条横幅吹嘘美国拥有数量最多的量子初创公司；第三条则称美国拥有全球最高水平的风险投资。“这是创新的强大燃料！”它补充道。这些横幅暗示了2026年SelectUSA投资峰会的奇特之处。随后，商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克上台解释，美国拥有大量消费者和深厚的资本市场。在VIP区聆听的人群中，坐着布基纳法索和巴拿马的代表团。
All this raised more questions than it answered: what business people, anywhere, do not know that America—the world’s biggest economy—is dynamic, innovative and awash with capital(资本充足，资本泛滥)? Are they learning this, for the first time, at the Gaylord(盖洛德会展中心)? And why is America putting on a show to woo(争取、求取（支持或投资）) foreign investment, in part, from nations with economies smaller than four-fifths(五分之四) of its states?
这一切引发的问题比回答的还多：世界上哪里还有商界人士不知道美国——全球最大经济体——充满活力、创新和资本？他们难道是第一次在盖洛德会展中心得知这些吗？为什么美国还要大张旗鼓地吸引外资，部分资金还来自经济体量比美国五分之四的州还要小的国家？
The conflab(交谈、讨论（非正式）) made more sense in the cavernous(像洞穴一样巨大的) exhibition hall below, where 49 states plus Washington, DC, along with territories, cities and local-government officials—many manning booths the size of houses(管理房子大小的展位)—were swapping business cards with the foreign business people. The purpose of the summit is only clear when you zoom in(放大（视角）) a little bit: TSMC(台积电，全球最大半导体代工厂), the giant Taiwanese semiconductor firm, can broker deals in Washington any time it chooses. But the small Indian manufacturers of advanced robots, who are looking to onshore(将业务迁回国内) some of their assembly process to avoid tariffs(关税), might have to ping-pong all over America(在美国四处奔波) to understand where best to locate their factory. At SelectUSA they can visit (almost) every state at once.
楼下巨大的展览厅里的交谈更合理了。在那里，49个州加上华盛顿特区，以及领地、城市和地方政府官员——许多人守着房子大小的展位——正在与外国商人交换名片。只有稍微聚焦一下，峰会的目地才清晰起来：台湾半导体巨头台积电随时可以选择在华盛顿谈判。但那些希望将部分装配流程回流以避免关税的印度先进机器人制造中小企业，可能不得不像打乒乓球一样在美国各地奔波，才能找到最佳的设厂地点。在SelectUSA，他们可以一次（几乎）拜访所有州。