Analysis of the America First Investment Policy and Outbound Investment Rules

At present, western countries led by the United States hope to build an international order based on their own rules and interests. In particular, the United States, with its ideology of “America First”, expands its national security circle of friends through policies and regulations, and drives countries or regions such as the European Union, Canada, and Australia to build national security investment barriers. United States attempts to unite Allies and apply various domestic legal rules to impose investment restrictions on relevant countries, in order to curb the development of their manufacturing and other industries. Relevant countries, on the one hand, advocate investment openness and regard it as the cornerstone of economic policies. At the same time, they restrict foreign investment and even their own outbound investment on the grounds of national security.This trendleads to extension of national security and weaponize national security issues. Moreover,the introduction of relevant systems in the United States has further strengthened the security review of foreign investment by the United States, expanded the scope of the review, and enhanced the protection against the leakage of key technologies, reflecting the United States’ concern for national security in the context of the global economic competition pattern. The core content of “America First” is to ensure that while the United States accepts foreign investment, it imposes stricter reviews and restrictions on investments from specific countries (especially China), as well as on investments from those countries by Americans, thereby safeguarding its national and economic security.