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 bac