Trump’s ‘America First Investment Policy’ Takes Aim at U.S. Adversaries

“Economic security is national security.”

That is the core message of President Trump’s new “America First Investment Policy.” Released on February 21, the policy strengthens America’s foreign investment review process while highlighting the risks of American capital and intellectual property (IP) serving our adversaries’ interests. It also seeks to “make it easier for our overseas allies to support United States jobs, innovators, and economic growth with their capital.”

In short, the policy leverages U.S. economic power to secure the homeland, support allies, and degrade adversaries’ ability to benefit from America’s greatest asset: its free, fair, and open capital markets.

Increasing Allied Investment While Constraining Adversarial Capital

Trump’s policy takes a dual-track approach: boost foreign investment from allies while restricting capital inflow from hostile states. While the policy does not explicitly define “ally” or “partner,” it clearly extends beyond military alliances to countries whose investments would align with U.S. interests in “critical technology, critical infrastructure, personal data, and other sensitive areas.”

Though China remains the primary focus given its weaponization of foreign investment, intellectual property theft, surveillance, and policies of civil-military fusion, the policy also targets kleptocratic regimes in Iran, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. It envisions that “restrictions on foreign investors’ access to United States assets will ease in proportion to their verifiable distance and independence from the predatory investment and technology-acquisition practices of [China] and other foreign adversaries or threat actors.”

Protecting Critical Industries and Supply Chains

The policy emphasizes reforms to both inbound and outbound investment reviews, calling for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to “restrict [Chinese government]-affiliated persons from investing in United States technology, critical infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, energy, raw materials, or other strategic sectors.” The policy also advocates for legislative reforms to “strengthen CFIUS authority over ‘greenfield’ investments, restrict foreign adversary access to United States talent and operations in sensitive technologies (especially artificial intelligence), and expand the remit of ‘emerging and foundational’ technologies addressable by CFIUS.”

Additionally, the policy promises “new or expanded restrictions on United States outbound investment in [China] in sectors such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnology, hypersonics, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, directed energy, and other areas implicated by [China’s] National Military-Civil Fusion strategy.” Importantly, the policy highlights how China’s National Military-Civil Fusion strategy compels Chinese companies and institutions to support its vast military-industrial complex and intelligence apparatus.

Transparency Undergirds American Economic Security

At the heart of the “America First Investment Policy” is the principle that transparency is essential to safeguarding U.S. economic security. The policy directs the United States to enhance visibility into both inbound and outbound capital flows, ensuring American investors are not unwittingly financing adversarial regimes or advancing their technological ambitions.

The policy mandates scrutiny of investment vehicles like variable interest entities and complex subsidiary structures used to bypass U.S. ownership restrictions. These opaque frameworks often leave U.S. investors without true ownership rights, voting power, or legal recourse, exposing them to financial and security risks.

The policy also prioritizes protecting American retirement savings by “restoring the highest fiduciary standards” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. This includes ensuring foreign adversary companies are ineligible for pension plan contributions, thereby shielding American workers from unknowingly funding entities that threaten U.S. security. It further targets index fund providers, which have faced scrutiny for including Chinese government-linked companies in their offerings, to prevent passive investment vehicles from becoming a backdoor for American capital to support foreign adversaries.

A broader shift in U.S. economic statecraft — one that ensures American capital fuels domestic growth and innovation, supports allied investment, and denies strategic advantage to foreign adversaries — is overdue. But proper enforcement will be key to this effort’s success. For President Trump, that means working with Congress to facilitate greater alignment, coordination, and, most importantly, resourcing across the entirety of the United States government.

Done right, the “America First Investment Policy” could mark the start of a new age of economic security where American capital drives innovation and prosperity at home while safeguarding U.S. interests abroad.

Elaine Dezenski is senior director and head of the Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP) at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Max Meizlish is a senior research analyst. For more analysis from Elaine, Max, and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Elaine and Max on X @ElaineDezenski and @maxmeizlish. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.