💸 Foreign Investment

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There’s a factory in northeastern Brazil, in the state of Bahia, which has made quite a few headlines in recent years.

The factory, currently owned and operated by Chinese automaker BYD, just rolled out its first fully electric car in May and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2026. Last December, it was temporarily shut down by Brazilian authorities after an investigation found ‘slave-like conditions’ for some workers.

Prior to all these developments, the factory raised eyebrows worldwide as it had previously been owned and operated by historical US car-making giant Ford. To many analysts in both Brazil and Washington, what could be a better symbol of China replacing the United States in influence in Latin America?

Well far be it from us to disrupt a good story, but as always there’s noise and there’s cold numbers. Despite the headlines and this Bahia factory, the US remains by far the top foreign investor in Latin America.

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