Tuberville continues fighting for Alabama-based Vulcan Materials
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) joined U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) in reintroducing the Defending American Property Abroad Act to address the continued aggression from the Mexican government toward Alabama-based Vulcan Materials Company in flagrant violation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The senators’ legislation would impose retaliatory prohibitions to deter and punish any nation in the Western Hemisphere that unlawfully seizes American assets, such as the Mexican government’s ongoing attempts to seize Vulcan’s deep-water port in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Sen. Tuberville cosponsored this legislation in the 118th Congress.
“For years, the Mexican Government has shown undue aggression toward American businesses, primarily Alabama’s Vulcan Materials,” said Sen. Tuberville. “The continued attempts to exploit Vulcan’s operation in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico is a disgrace to our longstanding trade agreement with Mexico. The Trump Administration has hit the ground running to prioritize and empower American companies — I look forward to seeing this bill get across the finish line to ensure American companies are fully protected.”
“I strongly condemn the Mexican government’s threats against Vulcan Materials Company, and I am pleased to see this bipartisan and bicameral rebuke from the United States Senate,” said Sen. Hagerty. “Under the leadership of Mexico’s previous president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and now the current president, Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexican government is committing a blatant theft against a major American company and, by extension, the United States itself. No nation should be allowed to bully an American firm without consequences. Our legislation will counter any attempt by the Mexican government to profit from illegal moves to expropriate, nationalize, or otherwise seize U.S. assets.”
Sens. Tuberville and Hagerty were joined by U.S. Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) in cosponsoring the legislation. U.S. Congressman August Pfluger (R-TX-11) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
BACKGROUND:
This legislation would authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prohibit vessels from entering a U.S. port if they previously used a port, land, or infrastructure that had been illegally seized from a U.S. entity by a foreign nation in the Western Hemisphere. It also empowers the U.S. Trade Representative to investigate and respond to foreign governments that deny U.S. companies fair and equal treatment or that have expropriated, nationalized, or seized U.S. assets.
In May 2022, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) abruptly shut down Vulcan’s operations with false claims that the firm was violating its contract, and since then, the Mexican Government, under AMLO’s direction, has waged an unceasing pressure campaign against Vulcan, including multiple lawsuits and, at times, sending military and law enforcement officers toits facility in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Last year, AMLO announced that he is pushing to designate the port and mine a “Protected Natural Area.”
The Alabama delegation has been united in advocating for Vulcan in its ongoing dispute with Mexico. Last year, Sens. Tuberville, Britt, Hagerty, and Kaine sent a letter to Alicia Bárcena, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, urging her to take action regarding the Mexican government’s mistreatment of Vulcan Materials Company.
In 2023, the Alabama delegation met with Mexico’s Ambassador to the U.S. Moctezuma to advocate for Vulcan. In 2022, Sen. Tuberville sent a letter with former Senator Richard Shelby and eight other U.S. senators calling on the Biden-Harris administration to discourage Mexican aggression against American companies with investments or operations in Mexico.
Sen. Tuberville also spoke in support of Vulcan on the Senate floor earlier this year.
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.
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