German investment in the US fell by almost half during Trump’s first year in office

German companies cut their investments in the US by about 45% in the first year of Donald Trump’s second term, citing uncertainty in trade. This is according to a study by the German Economic Institute (IW) based on data from the Bundesbank.

From February to November last year, these investments amounted to around €10.2 billion ($11.1 billion), compared to almost €19 billion in the same period a year earlier.

The IW also compared the figures with the average for the same period from 2015 to 2024, which amounted to around €13.4 billion.

«Even compared to this figure, there has been a decline of more than 24% since Trump took office,» said IW foreign trade expert Samina Sultan.

German exports to the United States are also weakening, falling by approximately 9% year-on-year in February-October 2025. As noted by the IW, excluding the coronavirus pandemic, this is the sharpest decline since 2010. Key industrial sectors have been particularly hard hit: exports of cars and car parts fell by almost 19% over the period, mechanical engineering by around 10%, and chemical products by more than 10%.

Trump’s recent threats to impose additional tariffs on some EU member states over Greenland, the study says, underscore how unpredictable the situation remains. Companies are particularly sensitive to such uncertainty—creating or expanding production capacity requires planning years in advance. The risk of changing economic conditions in the short term is forcing businesses to hold back or postpone investments. Trump’s economic policy, the IW noted, is disorienting companies, slowing transatlantic trade, and thus affecting not only German firms but also weakening the US economy.

It should be recalled that the EU is considering far-reaching trade measures, including tariffs worth €93 billion, in response to Trump’s statements. The latter threatened a number of European countries with tariffs of 10% from February 1 and an increase to 25% from June, citing Greenland.