Foreigners Rebuff ‘Sell America’ and Buy a Net $1.6 Trillion in Assets

Foreign purchases of US financial assets accelerated in 2025, led by demand for stocks and US Treasuries, data on Wednesday showed — marking a sharp rebuttal of the “Sell America” narrative that’s become a regular feature of discussion among market participants.

Overseas investors bought a net $1.55 trillion of long-term US financial assets in 2025, data released by the Treasury Department on Wednesday showed. That’s up from a net $1.18 trillion of purchases the previous year. Combining private and official investors, there were $720 billion of net equity purchases, with just under $409 billion flowing into Treasury notes and bonds.

President Donald Trump’s regular threats of steep tariff hikes — deployed for reasons ranging from economic to geopolitical to national security — have triggered concerns that investors abroad will abandon American markets and the dollar. Amid Trump’s pressure on Denmark over its island of Greenland, a Danish pension fund last month warned it was planning to exit its Treasuries position. Dutch fund Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, Europe’s biggest, dramatically scaled back its exposure last year.

But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has regularly pushed back against the “sell America” rhetoric, arguing that the administration’s economic policies enhance the US’s position as the top destination for global capital.

“Yes, there has been geopolitical instability as of late, and the sell-the-dollar trade has been popular as a result,” said Andrew Hazlett, a foreign-exchange trader at Monex Inc. But ultimately Treasuries make up a large share of sovereign debt holdings, he noted. “I don’t really see a world where that changes.”

Dollar Role

Dollar depreciation last year might have even encouraged some overseas managers to load up on US securities. Geoff Yu, senior macro strategist at BNY — one of the world’s largest custodians — said earlier this month that was what happened after the market gyrations spurred by Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement last April.

“Our data show that cross-border investors took full advantage of the adjustment in dollar valuation to add to US equity exposure,” Yu wrote in a note last week. “Although allocations are not as strong as during the ‘US exceptionalism’ period from 2023 to 2024, the cross-border ‘premium’ remains intact.”

The Treasury’s figures suggest many overseas managers were willing to add to positions in the US last year. Besides stocks and Treasuries, net purchases of corporate bonds totaled $367 billion last year. Securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — giant lenders to the US housing sector — and other so-called agencies amounted to a net $55.8 billion.

“Other markets can and do look attractive,” said David Aspell, co-chief investment officer at Mount Lucas. “But US government debt and mortgages are so large it is not really possible to find other asset markets to absorb” mammoth capital flows, he said. “And the quality of the equity markets here is compelling.”

China Sells

On a regional basis, Europe accounted for $872.8 billion of the net influx of money to long-term financial assets — defined as over one year. The Cayman Islands purchased a net $277.2 billion while Japan bought a net $56 billion. Canada totaled $84.4 billion.

The Treasury cautions that it can be challenging to identify the ultimate origin of ownership, however. A number of the biggest net purchases came from locations known for their tax advantages, such as the Cayman Islands and Guernsey, and for their custodial roles in global finance, including the UK and Belgium.

China was a notable net seller of US long-term financial assets, in the amount of $208.6 billion. Its holdings of Treasuries ended the year at $683.5 billion, the lowest level since 2008.

Chinese holdings may come under extra scrutiny after a Bloomberg report earlier this month showed that Beijing’s regulators had advised financial institutions to rein in their holdings of US Treasuries, citing concerns over concentration risks and market volatility.

For the month of December alone, foreign holdings of Treasuries dropped by $88.4 billion, to $9.27 trillion — the lowest level since October. Japan, the largest overseas owner of US government debt, saw its position decline by $17.2 billion, to $1.19 trillion. UK holdings fell $23 billion, to $866 billion.