"Sell America" argument gets slapped in the face: By 2025, foreign investment in long-term financial assets in the United States will increase to $1.55 trillion.

The data released on Wednesday shows that foreign purchases of US financial assets accelerated in 2025, driven by demand for stocks and US Treasury bonds, refuting the claims of "selling America" that have become a frequent topic of discussion among market participants. The data released by the US Department of the Treasury on Wednesday shows that foreign investors purchased a net $1.55 trillion in US long-term financial assets in 2025, higher than the previous year's $1.18 trillion. Of this, $442.7 billion flowed into US Treasury bonds. President Trump has often threatened to impose higher tariffs on imports, citing reasons covering economics, geopolitics, and national security, which has raised concerns that foreign investors may sell off US markets and the dollar. As Trump pressured Denmark over the Greenland issue, a Danish pension fund issued a warning last month, planning to divest its holdings of US Treasury bonds. The largest pension fund in Europe, Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP of the Netherlands, also significantly reduced its holdings last year. But US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has often refuted the claims of "selling America," arguing that government economic policies have elevated the US as the preferred destination for global capital. Andrew Hazlett, a forex trader at Monex Inc., stated, "Yes, recent geopolitical instability has made selling the dollar popular." However, he pointed out that ultimately, US Treasury bonds still hold a significant proportion in sovereign debt holdings. "I really don't see this situation changing." Last year, the depreciation of the US dollar may even have prompted some foreign fund managers to significantly increase their holdings of US securities. Geoff Yu, senior macro strategist at New York Mellon Bank, one of the largest custodian institutions globally, stated earlier this month that after Trump announced his "Liberation Day" tariff policy in April last year, there was indeed such a situation that occurred. Yu wrote, "Our data shows that cross-border investors have taken advantage of the USD valuation adjustment opportunities, increasing investments in US stocks. Although the current allocation may not be as strong as in the 'American exception' period from 2023 to 2024, the cross-border 'premium' still exists." The data from the US Department of the Treasury shows that many foreign fund managers were willing to increase their holdings of US assets last year. Besides stocks and bonds, the net purchases of corporate bonds totaled $327.8 billion last year. The net purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Federal National Mortgage Association, and other securities issued by institutions amounted to $112.9 billion. Regionally, Europe accounted for $872.8 billion of net inflows into long-term financial assets (defined as having a maturity of over one year). The Cayman Islands recorded net purchases of $277.2 billion, Japan of $56 billion, and Canada of $84.4 billion. Despite President Trump's tariff policies shaking the markets and casting a shadow over business prospects, the number of US stocks purchased by foreign investors in 2025 was more than double that of the previous year. According to data released by the US Department of the Treasury on Wednesday, net purchases outside the US rose to $720.1 billion last year, an increase of 134% from $307.5 billion in 2024. This buying spree also confirmed the challenge posed by the sentiment of "selling America" that emerged last year. At that time, threats of US tariffs were seen to disrupt global trade, and investors also feared that the White House would undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve. Owen Lamont, senior vice president and portfolio manager at Acadian Asset Management LLC, stated, "The claim of 'selling America' has been exaggerated, at least in terms of the stock market. What we are seeing is the American exception. The extreme drive for US technology stocks seems to continue." Last year, concerns about policies sparked volatility in US stock market indices, but the emergence of artificial intelligence offset some of those concerns. Until recently, artificial intelligence was widely seen as a force that could boost corporate profits. However, the US stock market's gains last year lagged behind global peers: the benchmark S&P 500 index had an annual return of 16%, 13 percentage points lower than the MSCI World (excluding the US) index. Based on analysis of data since 2023, Norway emerged as the largest buyer of US stocks in 2025, aside from the Cayman Islands and Ireland (where many global investment funds are registered). This Nordic country made net purchases of $81.8 billion, nearly three times its total from 2024. Singapore, the largest buyer in 2024, closely followed with $79 billion in purchases. South Korea was also a major buyer, purchasing $73.6 billion, almost five times its 2024 purchases. Mainland China continued to sell US stocks for the third consecutive year, with an estimated $34.1 billion of US stocks to be sold by 2025. Only Kuwait had larger sales, totaling $36.5 billion. Canada, the largest seller of US stocks in 2024, turned into a buyer last year, with a net purchase of $10.6 billion. Despite Canadians' anger over trade policies affecting their economy and Trump's threats to national sovereignty, this shift still occurred.