U.S. Senators Katie Britt, Tommy Tuberville Introduce Resolution Against the Biden Administration’s Closed-Door Trade Negotiations
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) with Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) introduced a concurring resolution expressing the sense of Congress that U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai’s closed-door negotiation regarding Annex 14-C of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) is not legally binding unless approved by Congress. The resolution also makes clear the USTR nor any other federal agency can invoke the “joint interpretation” in any legal proceeding or assert it has any legal consequence unless and until it is formally approved by Congress.
The resolution comes as President Biden’s administration has sought to reinterpret Annex 14-C of the USMCA with Mexico and Canada without the consent or appropriate consultation with Congress. These talks have included USTR Ambassador Tai actively undermining American interests, which would rob American companies, like Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials Co., of protections that have enabled investment into foreign-trade-partner nations.
“President Biden’s lame-duck administration is effectively renegotiating USMCA behind closed doors without properly informing Congress and without regard for American interests. These misguided talks will rob American companies, like Alabama’s Vulcan Materials, of protections that have enabled investment into foreign trade partner nations. President Biden is essentially negotiating away due process for Americans. This concurring resolution makes clear to the President that his administration’s actions in an eleventh-hour, shadowy negotiation will not be tolerated,” said Senator Britt.
“The American people issued a mandate on November 5: they want President Trump’s agenda, and they want it now,” said Senator Tuberville. “For the Biden administration to try to ram through this anti-American business policy at the last minute is a slap in the face to the 77 million Americans who voted for President Trump. It’s especially concerning for Alabama-based Vulcan Materials Company in its ongoing dispute with the Mexican government. Senator Britt and I will continue working diligently to make sure Alabama businesses are put first on the world stage, not last.”
The full text of the resolution can be viewed here.
BACKGROUND:
Senator Britt has been a leader in fighting the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to usurp congressional trade authority. She has also repeatedly advocated for Vulcan Materials Company to regain access to their port, which was unlawfully seized.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal published Senator Britt’s letter to the editor, which called attention to the Biden-Harris Administration’s closed-door negotiations. In the piece, she advocated for her bipartisan legislation, theDefending American Property Abroad Act, which would impose retaliatory prohibitions against the Government of Mexico if it attempts to profit from the seizure of Vulcan Materials Company’s property and port facility in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
This week, the Washington Times published a column written by Senators Britt, Tuberville, and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) in which the lawmakers again rejected the Biden-Harris Administration’s dangerous, eleventh-hour effort and called on Congress to pass their Defending American Property Abroad Act.
Vulcan Materials Company is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2018, Vulcan 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. Senator Britt called out the unlawful, unacceptable seizure at the time. She then helped lead a bipartisan letter to the Ambassador of Mexico to the United States, Esteban Moctezuma, regarding the militarized seizure of the property. Following a meeting between Alabama’s congressional delegation and Ambassador Moctezuma, it was announced that Mexican forces withdrew from the property.
Following that invasion, AMLO continued to threaten to forcibly take over Vulcan’s port and limestone quarry, forcing their operations out of Mexico, despite the company’s consistent presence in Mexico for more than 35 years.
In May 2024, Senators Britt, Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Hagerty, and Tuberville wrote Alicia Bárcena, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, marking the two-year anniversary of the initial militarized shutdown of the property and urging the Government of Mexico “to reverse the actions taken against Vulcan and work towards a beneficial solution for all parties involved.”
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