Narayan AmmachchiChina’s ports, highways and mega-dams often grab headlines across Latin America. But behind the scenes, U.S. companies are putting far more money into the region. They invest nearly four times as much fresh capital as their Chinese counterparts.
U.S. investment in Latin America averages about $28 billion a year, according to the latest data compiled by the Atlantic Council. The flow of capital has accelerated since the pandemic. Between 2020 and 2025, annual U.S. investment averaged $32.9 billion, reaching a peak of $46.9 billion in 2022.
The quality of those investments also differs. U.S. projects generate 65% more jobs than Chinese investments and 22% more than those from European companies. American firms also spend much more on innovation. They invest 2.49% of their capital in research and development in the region, compared with less than 0.65% by Chinese companies.
For decades, U.S. investment focused on factories and traditional industries. Today, it is spreading into hyperscale data centers, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing. Yet one major weakness remains. Nearly 70% of U.S. investment in recent years has gone to just three countries — Mexico, Brazil and Guyana.
Costa Rica shows how transformative long-term U.S. investment can be, the Atlantic Council says. More than 100 multinational medical technology companies now operate in the small Central American nation. They first arrived to manufacture products before expanding into engineering, product design, and research and development. Local suppliers grew alongside them, universities adapted, and medical devices have since become Costa Rica’s biggest export.
So why do many Latin American countries still find Beijing more attractive than Washington?
“I have seen throughout the world that China is buying up many places,” says Paige Webster, Member of the Board of Advisors at The Indus Bridge, a cross-border business advisory firm, which primarily advises North American Economic Development Organizations (EDOs).
That strategy is visible across the region. Rather than building new factories, Beijing has expanded its footprint by acquiring strategic assets, financing governments and backing high-profile infrastructure projects.
About 70% to 75% of Chinese capital has gone into buying operating businesses and infrastructure, including Peruvian copper mines, Brazilian electricity grids and Argentine agricultural companies.
Between 2005 and 2022, China also extended more than $136 billion in interest-bearing loans to Latin American governments, mostly in Venezuela, Ecuador and Argentina, funding projects such as mega-dams, railways, highways and national stadiums.
Those acquisitions and loans gave Beijing access to strategic industries while making its presence far more visible than the private-sector investments typically made by U.S. companies.
In some countries, Chinese companies have gone even further by dominating entire sectors, Webster said.
“I was in Belize recently. There is major FDI from the Chinese related to services or grocery store infusion in that country,” noted Webster, who is also the CEO of Webster Global Site Selectors. “I believe they own 95% of all grocery stores in the country. They have penetrated the market; I believe they work closely with the local government and people, but they have now captured a market (monopoly) that other competitors, such as US investors, cannot capture or compete with.”
How is the U.S. Countering?
Washington has tried to counter that momentum through initiatives such as the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP) and financing from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). But U.S. funding often comes with climate requirements, eligibility restrictions and lengthy approval processes, prompting governments seeking quick financing to look instead to Beijing.
About five Latin American countries have free trade agreements with China, while more than 21 have joined Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
China is buying influence, while the U.S. is fueling the private business sector.
Most American investment comes from private companies. When a U.S. multinational expands a supply chain, builds an advanced manufacturing plant or opens a cloud computing facility, it is treated as another commercial investment. China, by contrast, captures headlines by inaugurating landmark projects such as Chancay Port in Peru.
To narrow that gap, the Atlantic Council has urged Washington to encourage more private investment in Latin America’s mining and mineral processing industries. U.S. greenfield investment in the sector averages only about $200 million a year, while China invests roughly twenty times more.
For Latin American governments, such investments also deliver fast and substantial economic returns.
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