The United Arab Emirates committed to one of the largest foreign direct investment pledges after agreeing to invest $1.4 trillion in the United States over the next decade. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and a key figure in the Gulf nation’s economic strategy, met with President Donald Trump last week to discuss the massive investment promise.
The detailed framework has not been outlined. However, the UAE has said it would like to “substantially increase” existing investments in semiconductors, energy, manufacturing, and AI—all key sectors for the USA. It is no secret that American manufacturing has been suffering in recent years. The CHIPS act did little to promote semiconductor manufacturing in the US. Donald Trump has accused Taiwan of taking semiconductor business away from the US, and naturally, has threatened tariffs. The US must work fast if it wishes to compete with China in the AI realm, with DeepSeek being one example of China’s technological achievements.
Emirates Global Aluminum has announced plans to create the first new aluminum smelter in the US in nearly four decades. The White House noted this “would nearly double US production capacity” in aluminum and provide a much-needed boost to manufacturing overall.
Investment fund ADQ, based in the UAE, will partner with US-based Energy Capital Partners to invest $25 billion into energy infrastructure including data centers. This comes after billionaire Hussain Sajwani announced in January that he plans to place $20 billion into a US data center as his firm, Damac, already has close ties with Trump’s business ventures.
This historic deal is excellent news for the US economy and part of a much larger capital shift taking place as foreign capital seeks a safe haven.
