CHINA MOBILE

Citing national security concerns, the Trump administration said on Monday it had recommended that an application by China Mobile to offer telecoms services in the US should be denied.

MONEYGRAM

In January, Cfius rejected a $1.2-billion bid by Ant Financial, the payment arm of Alibaba, to buy MoneyGram. Lawyers said the decision reflected concerns about how a Chinese company might use customer data.

QUALCOMM

In March, Mr. Trump blocked a $142-billion hostile bid for US chipmaker Qualcomm by Singapore-based Broadcom after Cfius warned the deal could end up giving Chinese companies an advantage in 5G technology.

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Investing: Chinese and US policies hold back deals

One of the stated goals of Donald Trump’s trade policies is to provoke overseas companies into investing in the US. Don’t want to pay tariffs? Build a factory in America instead.

But there are already signs that when it comes to China the US president’s trade wars are having the opposite effect.

In the first six months of 2018 Chinese foreign direct investment into the US tumbled to just $ 1.8 billion, according to figures compiled by the Rhodium Group, a consultancy. In 2016 it had reached a record $ 46 billion.

One reason for that drop is the heightened scrutiny Chinese acquisitions have been receiving in recent years from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, the panel that reviews transactions for national security threats.

Deals that have been blocked over the past year include Ant Financial’s bid for MoneyGram, which was rejected because of concerns about the potential use of customer data. The Trump administration is also opposing China Mobile’s application to offer services in the US.

Chinese restrictions on outbound investment have not helped either. In recent months, Beijing has blocked a number of high- profile and acquisitive private companies from making further overseas deals.

Yet there is also clearly a Trump effect to the recent decline in Chinese investment and the president seems mindful of it. Asked why he had dropped plans for hard restrictions on Chinese investment in a recent Fox Business News interview, Mr. Trump pointed to his relationship with Xi Jinping, China’s president.

“What I didn’t like was pinpointing China, because it’s not fair. I get along with China. I like the president. He’s president for life,” he said. “We can call him the king, right?”