German companies nearly halved their investments in the United States in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, citing trade uncertainty, according to a report by the German Economic Institute (IW) seen by Reuters on Monday.
From February to November 2025, German firms invested around 10.2 billion euros ($11.1 billion) in the U.S., down roughly 45% from almost 19 billion euros in the same period a year earlier, the study showed, using data from the Bundesbank.
Because direct investment flows often fluctuate strongly, IW also compared the figures with the average value for the same period from 2015 to 2024, which was around 13.4 billion euros.
“Even relative to that, the figure since Trump took office is down by more than 24%,” said IW researcher Samina Sultan.