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.

When an automobile rolls off an assembly line in Michigan or Kentucky, it may carry thousands of components sourced from dozens of U.S. states and multiple Mexican locations. The final assembly badge — “Made in USA” or “Made in Mexico” — says almost nothing about the actual geography of production. This is the reality that the NAFTA era built, and that USMCA inherited. A significant portion of U.S.-Mexico merchandise trade is not conventional import-export commerce.