In violation of USMCA, the Mexican President has repeatedly threatened to declare an American company’s property as a “Protected Natural Area” to unjustifiably seize their assets
WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today led his colleagues in introducing the Defending American Property Abroad Act, legislation to impose retaliatory prohibitions that deter and punish any Western Hemisphere nation that unlawfully seizes American assets. This legislation responds to ongoing efforts by the Government of Mexico to seize a deep-water port owned by U.S.-based Vulcan Materials Company, which is a flagrant violation of the United Sates-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) governing trade between our two nations.
Specifically, this legislation would prohibit vessels from entering a U.S. port if they had 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 requires the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to identify and ban illegally seized ports from U.S. trade and requires the United States Trade Representative to report to Congress on how such expropriations would be addressed during the upcoming review of the United Sates-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), scheduled for 2026. The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).
“I strongly condemn AMLO’s threats against Vulcan Materials Company and am pleased to see this bipartisan rebuke from the United States Senate,” said Senator Hagerty. “No nation or president, and especially one of our largest trade partners, should be allowed to bully an American firm without consequences. Our legislation will help to undermine any attempt by AMLO to profit from his illegal actions and, in the event of a seizure, would strengthen our nation’s position in trade negotiations with Mexico.”
“Mexico seizing American-owned property is outrageous and unacceptable,” said Senator Barrasso. “The United States will always defend American business assets from illegal seizures. Senator Hagerty’s bill will ensure foreign countries cannot profit off of stealing from American companies abroad.”
“Make no mistake–President López Obrador’s scheme to seize Vulcan’s deep-water port would represent a flagrant expropriation of a lawfully permitted, U.S.-owned operation, and his administration’s assault on the rule of law is putting America’s and Alabama’s economic and national security interests in jeopardy,” said Senator Britt. “We have repeatedly warned him that there will be substantial ramifications if his administration crossed this line. Our bipartisan Defending American Property Abroad Act makes it clear that we will keep our promises. The United States is prepared to meet President López Obrador’s illegal actions, which violate both Mexican and international law, with crushing consequences.”
“The United States and Mexico have an important trade and economic relationship,” said Senator Budd. “The illegal seizure of American property and infrastructure in Mexico is unacceptable and undermines that relationship. I am proud to partner with Senator Hagerty to stand up for American’s right to engage in international commerce without being extorted.”
“In recent years, Mexican President López Obrador has unfairly targeted Vulcan Materials Company, a U.S.-based company that employs over 1,000 people in Virginia,” said Senator Kaine, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. “That’s why I’m introducing this bipartisan legislation with my colleagues to deter Mexico and any country in our hemisphere from illegally seizing U.S. assets. We must make it clear that this behavior will not be tolerated. On the heels of Mexico’s controversial judicial reforms, this behavior only further harms the economic relationship between our two countries, as well as global investor confidence in Mexico.”
“For more than a year, Mexican President López Obrador has continued to show undue aggression toward American businesses, primarily Alabama’s Vulcan Materials,” said Senator Tuberville. “The continued escalation against Vulcan’s operation in Mexico is a disgrace to the longstanding trade agreement between our two countries for the last 30 years. The Biden-Harris administration has refused to stand up to President López Obrador’s threats, which is why it’s time for Congress to take action and urgently move this legislation to ensure this doesn’t happen to more American companies under a new Mexican president.”
Background:
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 to its facilities. Last month, AMLO announced that he is pushing to designate the port and mine a “Protected Natural Area”.
In May 2022, Hagerty urged President Joe Biden to take action against the Mexican government’s moves to expropriate the property of U.S. companies with investments and operations in Mexico.
In March 2023, Hagerty pressed Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the seizure by Mexican military troops and civilian authorities of U.S.-based Vulcan Materials Company’s assets in Mexico.
In December 2023, Hagerty and Kaine spoke on the Senate floor imploring President López Obrador to halt harmful actions against American companies’ lawfully owned assets in Mexico, noting that these unlawful actions violate agreements made between the two countries under the USMCA and jeopardize a key U.S. trade relationship.
In May 2024, Hagerty, Tuberville, Britt, and Kaine sent a letter to Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico Alicia Bárcena urging her to take action regarding the Mexican government’s mistreatment of Vulcan Materials Company.
Full text of the Defending American Property Abroad Act can be found here.
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