Bipartisan bill advances in the Senate to punish countries that violate trade agreements with the U.S.

Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-A) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced the Defending American Property Abroad Act. The legislation includes punishments and sanctions for foreign governments that breach trade treaties with the United States. It particularly targets a practice Mexico.

According to the office of Tuberville, also a candidate for governor of Alabama, the 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.”

As for Mexico, the bill criticizes the practices carried out by the administrations of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and Claudia Sheinbaum. It also accuses the country of violating the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to the detriment of Vulcan Materials Company.

"For years, the Mexican government has shown undue aggression toward American businesses, primarily Alabama’s Vulcan Materials. The continued attempts to exploit Vulcan’s operation in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico are a disgrace to our longstanding trade agreement with Mexico," Tuberville said in a statement.

"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," added Senator Hagerty, who has represented Tennessee in the Upper House since 2019.

The bipartisan legislation also has the support of Tim Kaine (D-VA), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Katie Britt (R-AL), and Ted Budd (R-NC).

Congressman August Pfluger was responsible for introducing the legislation in the House of Representatives.

Specifically, the bill would authorize the Department of Homeland Security to prohibit the entry of commercial vessels that have previously used a port, land, or infrastructure that has been illegally seized from a U.S. entity.

In turn, it would give the trade representative, currently Jamieson Greer, the power to investigate and sanction those Western countries that deny U.S. companies fair treatment, as well as those that have expropriated or nationalized U.S. assets.