For a nation famed for its isolationist policies, companies in U.S. have embraced offshoring as readily as the rest of the world, but could that be about to change?

Earlier this week congress began a hearing on the impact that offshoring is having on the nation’s economy and, most pertinently, employment in the country. The hearing is headed by panel chairman, Bart Gordon, who caused controversy in 2004 when he opposed George Bush by pushing for the publication of a report by the U.S. Department of Commerce on offshore outsourcing that called for greater assessment of its potential impact.

Gordon has already issued a stern warning to firms in the US by claiming that the growth of offshoring could soon result in more Americans looking for jobs overseas in a shrinking employment market. The major fear of the committee is that outsourcing is now effecting not only manufacturing job in the U.S. but is beginning to pose a threat to white collar workers.

The first hearing, which concentrated on research and development, is one of a series termed by Gordon as “fact-finding explorations”, with the committee calling on some of America ’s leading policy analysts and industry representatives

The main crux of Congress’s investigation is that if the offshoring of many key business areas continued to grow the American economy may struggle to keep pace.

And although the findings of the remaining hearings are unclear, and are ultimately unlikely to have much of an impact on corporate policy across the pond, Congress seem determined to make sure that their voice is heard.