Tariffs, US shipbuilding and the Trump FDI tracker
From FDi Beyond Borders
Beyond Borders
The latest news and analysis on cross-border investment
April 10, 2025
Welcome everyone to a new issue of Beyond Borders.
The tariff rollercoaster continues, with many breathing a sigh of relief after the US paused most reciprocal duties for 90 days. But it is far from plain sailing for American FDI. The uncertainty — and tariffs that remain in effect — are hitting investor confidence in the country. Some corporates might curry favour with the White House by making big FDI pledges, but as I found out in the story below, it’s not a sign of the tariff-jumping wave that Trump is seeking.
China is the big exception to the tariff reprieve. And as our latest cover story shows, Trump is finding more fields to take on the US’s rival. He wants to ramp up domestic shipbuilding to boost America’s waning maritime presence, an ambition which has big implications for global trade and geopolitics. Read fDi contributor Ben Payton’s excellent story here.
Of course, tariffs and shipbuilding aren’t the only presidential pronouncements to be taken with a pinch of salt. To cut through the noise, we’ve launched the Trump FDI Tracker — a new tool built on fDi Markets data — which monitors announced FDI into and out of the country, and timelines the biggest investment news under the US administration.
That’s it for this week. We love to hear from our readers, get in touch at danielle.myles@ft.com.
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