Legislation would punish foreign governments that violate American trade agreements or seize US assets

WASHINGTON — As the controversy over Mexico’s seizure of a deep-water port owned by Vulcan Materials continues, legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate to impose retaliatory prohibitions to deter and punish any nation in the Western Hemisphere that unlawfully seizes American assets.

U.S. Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville joined Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Senate colleagues in reintroducing the bipartisan Defending American Property Abroad Act of 2025.

The seizure in 2022 has been cited by the U.S. as a flagrant violation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) governing trade between the two nations.

U.S. Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) joined in cosponsoring the legislation. U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“The threats toward Vulcan’s lawfully permitted, U.S.-owned deep-water port from the Government of Mexico, even under a new president, have not ceased,” said Britt (R-Montgomery). “Mexico continues to flagrantly violate international law with its actions, putting America’s and Alabama’s economic and national security at risk — and it won’t stand. I’m proud to fight for the rule of law … in introducing the bipartisan Defending American Property Abroad Act of 2025. This reaffirms the U.S. will impose crushing consequences if the Government of Mexico continues to execute its illegal scheme against Vulcan’s property.”

Specifically, the legislation would authorize the Department of Homeland Security 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.

“For years, the Mexican government has shown undue aggression toward American businesses, primarily Alabama’s Vulcan Materials,” said Tuberville (R-Auburn). “The continued attempts to exploit Vulcan’s operation in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico is a disgrace to our longstanding trade agreement with Mexico.

“I look forward to seeing this bill get across the finish line to ensure American companies are fully protected.”

In 2018, Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials initiated a NAFTA arbitration against Mexico in response to harassment, illegal land-use changes, and the unlawful shutdown of operations on a portion of Vulcan’s property in Quintana Roo. In May 2022, Vulcan’s production and port operations at the property were fully shut down using Mexican military force on Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) orders.

On March 14, 2023, Vulcan Materials Company’s port facility at Punta Venado in Quintana Roo, Mexico, was breached and confiscated at gunpoint by Mexican military and police forces.

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, which has had operations in Mexico for 35 years.