Alabama U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt are among six members of the body who have introduced a bill that would impose penalties on Mexico if it attempts to profit from seizing a port facility owned by Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials Co.
Sens. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) are also among the sponsors of the “Defending American Property Abroad Act,” the latest salvo in the ongoing dispute over Vulcan’s property in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
The bill would prohibit any vessel that had used a port, land, or infrastructure illegally seized from a U.S. entity by a foreign nation in the Western hemisphere from entering a U.S. port.
The legislation would also require the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to identify and ban illegally seized ports from U.S. trade, and require the U.S. Trade Representative to report to Congress on such instances during the upcoming review of the United Sates-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The review is scheduled for 2026.
The site has been the subject of controversy for several years, with the Mexican government shutting down operations there using the Mexican military in May 2022, and seizing the facility in March 2023, despite a court ordered stay on any government action to confiscate the property.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has threatened to declare the property a natural protected area or seize it by force if Vulcan doesn’t accept a $360 million offer for the gravel pits before he leaves office next year.
Vulcan maintains the Punta Venado deep-water port facility has an estimated value of more than $1 billion.
Earlier this year, López Obrador issued a declaration that would designate Vulcan’s land and port in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo as a naturally protected area.
Last week, every member of Alabama’s House delegation urged action on behalf of Vulcan.
In a statement, Britt said the legislation would follow through on repeated promises of “substantial ramifications” if López Obrador continues with his “illegal actions.”
“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,” Britt said.
Tuberville said the continued escalation against Vulcan’s operation “is a disgrace to the longstanding trade agreement between our two countries for the last 30 years.”
