Foreign Direct Investment Between the U.S. and Mexico Has Grown 328% Since 1999
Trade flows between the United States and Mexico get most of the headlines, but the investment relationship underpinning them is equally substantial — and has grown dramatically over the past quarter century.
U.S. foreign direct investment in Mexico stood at $159.2 billion in 2024, up from $37.2 billion in 1999. That 328% increase reflects a sustained commitment by American firms to production facilities, distribution networks, and service operations south of the border. The United States holds the largest stock of FDI in Mexico, well ahead of any other source country.
On the other side, Mexican FDI in the United States has grown from $3.0 billion in 1999 to $61.7 billion in 2024 — a smaller number in absolute terms, but a significant expansion. Spanish firms ($4.4 billion), Canadian firms ($3.3 billion), and investors from the Netherlands and Japan round out the top FDI sources in Mexico. China, despite its prominence in global manufacturing, accounts for only around $710 million in FDI inflows to Mexico — a figure that has attracted attention in the context of debates over whether Chinese firms are using Mexico as a backdoor into the U.S. market.
Investment flows in 2025 were led by the United States, which accounted for 39% of total FDI inflows to Mexico, or $15.9 billion out of $40.9 billion total. The automotive and manufacturing sectors were the primary drivers — consistent with the broader pattern of production integration that has characterized the bilateral relationship since NAFTA.
The investment dimension matters for the USMCA review. USMCA’s investor-state dispute settlement mechanism — retained between the United States and Mexico specifically to protect U.S. investors in sensitive sectors — is one area where congressional opinion is divided. For U.S. firms with capital deployed in Mexican energy, infrastructure, and telecoms, the mechanism provides meaningful legal recourse. Critics argue it constrains government regulatory autonomy in ways that favor corporate interests over workers and communities.