What the annual trade and investment figures for 2025 show, and what they leave open.
Germany sold goods worth €146.2 billion to the United States in 2025, 9.4 percent less than the year before. That ended a run of three record years: €156.1 billion in 2022, €157.9 billion in 2023 and €161.4 billion in 2024. German coverage of the release tied the decline to higher U.S. tariffs.
Where the decline was
Cars and car parts fell furthest, by 17.8 percent to €28.5 billion. They are still the largest product group, just ahead of pharmaceuticals at €28.0 billion.
What did not change
The United States remained Germany’s largest export market, a position it has held every year since 2015. France followed with €117.4 billion and the Netherlands with €112.5 billion. Measured by total trade, exports plus imports, China moved back into first place with €251.8 billion, ahead of the United States with €240.5 billion.
Germany imported goods worth €94.3 billion from the United States. The German surplus fell to €51.9 billion, from €69.6 billion in 2024.
Investment moved the other way
While exports fell, German investment in the United States grew. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports a $49.0 billion increase in the position of German multinationals in 2025, the largest increase it names. Measured by ultimate owner, German companies held $706.2 billion at the end of the year. That puts Germany third, behind Japan with $827.1 billion and Canada with $819.8 billion.
In new investment made during 2025, Germany ranked second with $26.7 billion, behind Japan with $50.5 billion.
How to read it
Two readings fit these numbers. In the first, German companies are shipping less from Germany and building more capacity inside the United States. In the second, 2025 is a single weaker year after three records; exports were still higher than in any year from 2017 to 2021.
The annual figures cannot settle which reading is right. Two releases will help: the 2026 trade figures, due in February 2027, and the next investment figures in July 2027. Until then, the more immediate question for German companies with U.S. operations is what the new Congress does. The committee chairs expected in January are in the tracker, and the laws already on the books are in the Policy Desk. The underlying series is on the page Germany and the United States in numbers.
Sources
- Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis), press release of February 20, 2026, and its annual foreign trade releases for 2017 to 2024.
- Destatis figures for France and the Netherlands as reported by cash.ch; coverage of the release by ZDFheute.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Direct Investment by Country and Industry, 2025, and New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, 2025.