This week, Donald Trump reassumed the presidency of the United States, completing an unprecedented political comeback which follows his 2020 defeat and multiple felony convictions last year.

Mauricio Claver-Carone, a former President of the Inter-American Development Bank (2020-2022) who orchestrated much of the first Trump administration’s policy towards Latin America, has been tapped to serve as US Special Envoy for the region. His view of the regional priority for Trump 2.0? Make the Americas Grow Again, especially through a mixture of policy and incentives to unleash the power of private capital.

Bar chart comparing USA Foreign Direct Investment (Net Flows) in 2023 across various countries, showing Latin American countries attract less investment than many others | Sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Latinometrics
Which countries attract the most US investment?

Latin America actually attracts less of this private capital at the moment than you might think. For example, US companies invested just shy of $23B into Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina combined in 2023. To give you an idea, small European countries like Ireland and Switzerland individually saw larger inflows over the same time period.

Now, part of the reason countries like these two – as well as Singapore, the Netherlands, and British overseas islands in the Western Hemisphere – see such high direct investment is owing to their lax tax regulations. Regardless, US officials like Claver-Carone believe that the road to (Latin) American prosperity is through US companies growing their international investments.

And when it comes to attracting these investments, Mexico is the clear regional champion.

Line graph showing US direct investment flows to Latin America, highlighting Mexico's downtick in 2023 after strong 2022 | Sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Latinometrics
US investment flows to Latin America

While Latin America’s northernmost country actually saw a downtick in 2023 from the nearly $16B in US-originating direct investment seen in 2022, there’s little doubt this is a good time for Mexican firms. From greenfield operations to mergers and acquisitions, US firms have big appetites for growing their presence south of the border.

Will this change with the currently-threatened 25% tariffs on Mexican goods, set to take effect next week? Only time will tell.