Toss Securities Research Center Publishes "A Visit to Texas" Report

The Third U.S. Field Report Following Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.

On October 14, the Toss Securities Research Center (headed by Lee Younggon) published a report titled "A Visit to Texas - Immigrants, Space, and Growth," focusing on Texas as the new industrial hub of the United States. Through this report, the Research Center analyzed that the structure of the U.S. economy is being reorganized due to the prolonged anti-immigration policies, the shift to private-led space industry, and the emergence of new growth hubs within the country.

The Backlash of Anti-Immigration Policies and the Acceleration of Automation

First, the Toss Securities Research Center assessed that the strengthened anti-immigration policies since the launch of the Trump administration are likely to continue for political reasons. The decline in immigrants is expected to burden the overall U.S. economy by shrinking the job market and increasing production costs. In particular, industries highly dependent on immigrant labor-such as agriculture, construction, logistics, and services-are expected to be directly affected.

Lee Younggon, Head of the Research Center, projected that the labor shortage caused by a reduction in immigrants will accelerate the spread of robotics, automation, and unmanned industries. Companies are likely to increase investments in technologies that improve production efficiency to cope with rising labor costs, which will in turn accelerate the mid- to long-term growth of automation technology and the robotics manufacturing industry.

Privately Led Space Industry Becomes the New Arena for Hegemonic Competition

Regarding the U.S. space industry, the report stated that its center is shifting from the government to the private sector, and from the Moon to Mars, with industrial innovation accelerating. It also evaluated that, similar to past competition with the Soviet Union, China is emerging as a new hegemonic rival, making the space industry once again a strategic core arena for the United States.

Analyst Han Sangwon commented, "The space industry should no longer be seen as a distant future but as an industry that has already become a reality," adding, "From an investment perspective, opportunities are expanding not only in rocket launches but also across various derivative sectors such as data, communications, materials, and security."

The Second New York and California: Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Washington

Finally, the report emphasized that the center of the U.S. economy is expanding beyond New York and California to Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Washington. The combination of low taxes and living costs, business-friendly policies, and infrastructure investment is driving company headquarters and factories to relocate to these new growth hubs. This shift is fostering a virtuous cycle of regional growth by attracting both talent and capital.

Analyst Lee Jisun stated, "In the future, companies with a significant share of sales in these regions, particularly in banking, infrastructure/EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction), power, logistics, and healthcare industries, are likely to benefit structurally," adding, "It is worth considering as a long-term investment theme."

Lee Younggon, Head of the Toss Securities Research Center, said, "This report provides a multidimensional view of changes in the U.S. economy through three pillars: anti-immigration policies, the competition for space hegemony, and regional growth hubs," and added, "Based on the direction of change observed during our field visit, investors should take a more long-term perspective on the major trends where policy, industry, and region move together."