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U.S. Senator Katie Britt, R-Ala., the ranking member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, and Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, have issued a joint statement condemning the Mexican government’s recent seizure of Vulcan Materials Company’s deep-water port in Quintana Roo, Mexico. The port, which has been under Alabama-based Vulcan’s operation, was allegedly confiscated on the orders of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, AMLO.
“President López Obrador’s seizure of Vulcan’s deep-water port represents 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 economic and national security interests in jeopardy,” the Senators stated. “We have repeatedly warned him that there would be substantial ramifications if his administration crossed this line. As he attempts to execute this lame duck scheme, he will now quickly learn that we keep our promises.”
The Senators also cautioned that the next Mexican administration would bear the consequences of President López Obrador’s actions, urging them to intervene swiftly. “The incoming Mexican administration will not want to pay the crushing consequences for President López Obrador’s illegal actions, which violate both Mexican and international law, and we encourage them to intervene with all due haste in the mutually beneficial interest of both the Mexican and American people,” the statement continued.
Vulcan Materials Company has been engaged in an ongoing legal dispute with the Mexican government since 2018, after the company filed a NAFTA arbitration case in response to alleged harassment, illegal land-use changes, and an unlawful shutdown of part of its operations in Quintana Roo.
In May 2022, Vulcan’s operations were forcibly shut down by Mexican military forces. The situation escalated in March 2023, when Mexican military and police forces breached and seized Vulcan’s port facility in Punta Venado at gunpoint. Following these actions, Senator Britt and other members of Alabama’s congressional delegation raised concerns directly with Mexico’s Ambassador to the United States, Esteban Moctezuma, which resulted in a temporary withdrawal of Mexican forces.
Despite Vulcan’s long-standing presence in Mexico for more than 35 years, tensions have continued to mount, with AMLO threatening further seizures of the company’s port and limestone quarry.
In recent months, Senators Britt, Tim Kaine, D-Va., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., have been actively involved in efforts to reverse the Mexican government’s actions. In May 2024, the Senators wrote to Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Alicia Bárcena, urging the government to reverse its position. By July 2024, the Senators condemned AMLO’s administration’s efforts to designate Vulcan’s property as a “naturally protected area,” a move that would effectively strip the company of its rights to operate the facility.
In response to these developments, Senators Britt, Hagerty, Kaine, Tuberville, Ted Budd, R-N.C., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., introduced the Defending American Property Abroad Act, aimed at imposing retaliatory measures against Mexico should the government attempt to profit from the port seizure.
Vulcan Materials Company, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, remains at the center of this growing international dispute, as U.S. lawmakers call for urgent action to protect American interests abroad.
