The Trump Administration’s Impact on US Investment Policy

Abstract This article reviews the Trump Administration’s impact on US investment policy – meaning, US policy regarding the promotion and protection of US investment abroad – at the close of the Administration. In short, the Administration’s impact on US investment policy was substantial by any measure. It withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was effectively the largest investment agreement ever negotiated, and it also renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement and replaced it with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which features a novel approach to investor-state dispute settlement. The Administration’s impact on US investment policy was also shaped by steps it chose not to take, including its decision not to replicate its approach in the USMCA in its amendments to the Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement, re-start the United States-China Bilateral Investment Treaty or Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations or re-visit dozens of US investment agreements that are currently in force. This article reviews these decisions with a view to considering the challenges and opportunities that await future US policymakers in the executive and legislative branches with respect to US investment policy.