Trump Administration Halts Small Business Loans to Foreign Nationals, Requiring Full American Ownership

President Donald Trump’s Small Business Administration (SBA) is stopping the issuance of small business loans to foreign nationals, requiring that a business be 100 percent owned by a U.S. citizen or U.S. national to receive such a loan.

This week, the SBA published a memo requiring that, beginning next month, applicants for the agency’s primary small business loan be American citizens or American nationals.

“… effective March 1, 2026, SBA hereby revises Standard Operating Procedure 50 10 8 Lender and Development Company Loan Programs guidance related to businesses owned by non-U.S. citizens,” the memo states:

Consistent with 13 C.F.R. 120.100 and Executive Order 14159 “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” SBA is requiring that 100% of all direct and/or indirect owners of a small business