Trump, the EU and Putin: The triple threat facing Ireland's FDI in 2026
The EU Commission pledges tougher scrutiny of inbound investment to ensure it adds value.Â
Ireland’s foreign direct investment (FDI) is set to face a challenging year in 2026, as the political volatility driven by President Trump’s dramatic push to increase 'made in America' and President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has impacted cross-border investment in the second half of the year.
So far, Trump's imposition of tariffs on imports into the US have had a significant role in attracting FDI. On the one hand, it keeps the US as the global leader for inward investment, continuing to attract vast capital from around the globe, as companies scramble to avoid tariffs by moving their manufacturing into the US. But, on the other hand, strangling the traditional outward investment by the many global US corporations, who are under severe pressure by the Trump administration to only invest in America.
