Top US Trading Partners Pledge $5 Trillion in Investments

But researchers question whether the money will actually materialize

Jan. 27, 2026 at 2:31pm

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President Donald Trump strong-armed America's biggest trading partners into pledging trillions of dollars of investment in the United States. However, a new study by researchers at the Peterson Institute for International Economics raises doubts about whether the money will actually materialize and questions how it would be spent if it did.

Why it matters

The pledged investments were touted as a major economic victory for the Trump administration, but this report casts uncertainty over the feasibility and impact of these commitments from the US's top trade partners.

The details

The researchers looked at over $5 trillion in investment commitments made last year by the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and several Persian Gulf states. They concluded that "the short answer is that they are clouded with uncertainty" regarding how realistic these pledges actually are.

  • The investment commitments were made last year.

The players

Gregory Auclair

Researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Adnan Mazarei

Researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Donald Trump

Former President of the United States.

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What they’re saying

“How realistic are these commitments? The short answer is that they are clouded with uncertainty.”

— Gregory Auclair and Adnan Mazarei, Researchers, Peterson Institute for International Economics (citizentribune.com)

The takeaway

This report casts doubt on whether the much-touted investment pledges from the US's top trading partners will actually materialize, undermining claims of a major economic victory for the Trump administration and raising questions about the feasibility and impact of these commitments.