Cho Tak Wong, chairman of auto glass giant Fuyao Glass, bought the vacant General Motors manufacturing plant in Moraine, Ohio, in 2014.
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Chinese investment in the United States has declined sharply since Donald Trump’s first term. Analysts say that trend is unlikely to be reversed with Trump returning to the White House.
trump card have Threaten to impose tariffs on Chinese goods Shortly after taking office on Monday, he took an increasingly tough stance on the United States against Beijing.
“The last thing Trump wants to do is try to incentivize (Chinese companies) to invest here,” said Rafiq Dosani, an economist at the Rand Corporation, an American think tank.
“There’s an ideological mismatch. All the talk is, keep China away from the United States and let their low-end products come in,” he said in an interview earlier this month. But other than that, “Don’t, don’t let them in.”
Over the past few weeks, UAE real estate giants DAMAC commits to invest $20 billion SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son announces establishment of data center in the United States Invest $100 billion The development of artificial intelligence in the United States during Trump’s four years in office.
Latest data shows Chinese investment transactions in the U.S. have slowed sharply American Enterprise Institute data. In the first six months of 2024, inflows into the United States were only $860 million, compared with $1.66 billion in 2023.
In its heyday, Chinese companies made high-profile acquisitions in the U.S., such as Waldorf Astoria New York. But regulators on both sides blocked the flow.
“Since Beijing tightened controls on capital outflows in 2017, Chinese investment in the United States has slowed significantly, and the United States subsequently introduced a series of regulatory policies targeting China. Excludes investments in certain industries“, Danielle Goh, senior research analyst at Rhodium Group, said in an email.
In the “foreseeable future,” she does not expect Chinese investment in the United States to return to the peak levels of the 2016-2017 period. Wu noted that Chinese companies are no longer making acquisitions and are turning more to small joint ventures or greenfield investments with U.S. companies, where operations are built from the ground up.
For example, Chinese battery manufacturing company Yiwei Lithium Energy is a technology partner and owns 10% of a battery manufacturer. joint venture In partnership with the Accelera division of US engine company Cummins, Daimler Trucks and PACCAR. The companies announced in June 2024 that they launched plans to build a battery factory in Mississippi that would begin production in 2027 and create more than 2,000 jobs.
Siva Yam, the nonprofit’s president, told CNBC that since the Covid-19 pandemic, the U.S.-China Chamber of Commerce has mainly helped Chinese e-commerce companies set up local offices rather than setting up manufacturing businesses.
“Today, most of these investments are smaller, so they get less attention and are easier to get approved,” he said, referring to U.S. and Chinese regulators. But he remains unsure whether Chinese companies can use investments to offset the impact of tariffs.
U.S. states are increasingly wary of Chinese investment. Last spring, Politico reported More than 20 states It is passing new restrictions on land purchases by Chinese citizens and companies, or updating existing rules.
In December, Chinese hackers attacked a government office that reviews U.S. foreign investment. CNN reportsciting U.S. officials. It was part of a broader breach at the Treasury Department, which declined CNBC’s request for comment.
Trading strategy?
Trump says he may use tariffs to coerce Chinese investment in U.S.
“I will bring auto jobs back to our country through the appropriate use of taxes, tariffs and incentives, and not in Mexico, China, or other countries,” he said in his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination.
“The way they sell their products in the U.S. is Built in the USAand only in the United States. This will create a lot of jobs and wealth for our country,” he said, according to an NBC News transcript.
Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) reportedly said in November that it would If Trump allows it, build a factory in the United States. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Center for American Progress, an advocacy group, noted in December that during his first term, Trump lifts restrictions About Chinese telecom company ZTE – Just a few days ago, the Chinese government and Chinese banks invested $1 billion in a theme park owned by the Trump Organization in Indonesia.
The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ZTE deal or investment opportunities for Chinese companies in the United States.
Derek Smith, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, pointed out that even if Trump welcomes more Chinese investment or uses tariffs to coerce Chinese investment, large-scale investment is a long-term process and will not happen overnight.
Then there’s the unpredictability of the president-elect’s policies.
He said: “Trump said that the United States will open to Chinese companies in 2025, but this does not guarantee that it will also be achieved in 2029.”
