Twenty-five years ago, one of the main reasons companies created global supply chains was to take advantage of lower wages in other countries. In general, it was fairly easy to off-set the increased shipping costs resulting from remote manufacturing. However, salary arbitrage advantages are eroding as wages in lower cost countries are rising, improved process and robotics allows plants to be operated with far fewer people, and local firms are becoming strong competitors in virtually every industry.
One of the advantages of the global supply chain has been the ability to scatter patents and manufacturing sites around the globe. This allowed companies to report profits in countries with low corporate taxes. However, many of these arrangements are being challenged. In 2016, the European Commission ordered Apple to pay Ireland €13bn in back taxes, ruling that Apple's tax agreement with Ireland amounted to illegal state aid. The antitrust chief of the European Union, Margrethe Vestager, recently began investigating Amazon's European tax practices. Google and other technology firms are also being investigated by the EU.
Source: cio.com