There’s a change on the horizon for US manufacturing, according to the ninth-annual Reshoring Index released last week by the global management consulting firm Kearney. The study found that despite the short-term challenges, large portions of offshored manufacturing may soon be returning thanks to companies combining their nearshoring production to Mexico, Central America, and even Canada, with manufacturing and assembly in the United States.

“Previous Kearney Reshoring Index reports have highlighted that, because of their dependence on overseas suppliers for materials, parts, and components, companies that have considered or even executed reshoring plans often wrestle with challenges associated with operating very long global supply chains,” lead author PatrickVan den Bossche said. “But what if that ecosystem of suppliers that China and other Asian countries have been building for the past three decades were to move closer to the US? That’s exactly what we’re starting to see happening because, for a variety of reasons, more and more Chinese and Asian companies are setting up manufacturing operations in Mexico.”