German companies cut US investment to three-year low as tariff uncertainty bites

German businesses pumped just €4.3 billion ($5 billion) into the United States during the first half of 2026. That’s the lowest figure since 2023, and it’s not even close to what it used to be. Compared to the same period last year, the number dropped by nearly two-thirds. Stack it against the first half of 2024, and the decline is closer to 80%. For context, pre-pandemic first-half averages hovered around €15.8 billion. The current figure is roughly a third of that. A slow bleed since early 2025 The pullback didn’t start overnight. It’s been building since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, bringing with him a familiar cocktail of tariff threats and trade-policy unpredictability. From February to November 2025, German direct investment in the US totaled €10.2 billion. That was already a 45% decline from the roughly €19 billion invested during the comparable stretch the year before. The first half of 2026 just accelerated the trend. Data analyzed by the German Economic Institute (IW) and reported by Reuters paints a picture of deepening corporate hesitation. IW researcher Samina Sultan noted that the reluctance has been persistent ever since Trump’s election,...