That's not the difference at all, it is invested in corporate debt (much of it from US companies) and giant amounts of US Treasuries. Even the people that manag

That's not the difference at all, it is invested in corporate debt (much of it from US companies) and giant amounts of US Treasuries. Even the people that manage it do so from the US. The difference is purely in accounting, they keep that money on a different line of their balance sheet and are unable to use it for domestic expenses without paying tax on it. Most of the money isn't going to move at all after they repatriate it (they'll actually sell Treasuries to pay... the Treasury!). No part of "bringing back" the money will result in more money being invested in the US--it's already invested here!