Bill Hagerty, Bipartisan Senators Propose to Protect American Assets from Unlawful Seizures by Mexico, Other Foreign Governments

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and a host of bipartisan senators introduced legislation to deter foreign governments, including Mexico, from seizing American-owned assets.

Hagerty, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led his colleagues in introducing the Defending American Property Abroad Act, a bill that would impose retaliatory prohibitions to deter and subsequently punish any nation in the Western Hemisphere that unlawfully seizes American assets.

Hagerty and lawmakers introduced the legislation in response to the Mexican government attempting to seize a deep-water port owned by the American-based Vulcan Materials Company in violation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that governs trade between America and its neighbor to the south.

“I strongly condemn the Mexican government’s threats against Vulcan Materials Company and I am pleased to see this bipartisan and bicameral rebuke from the United States Senate,” Hagerty said in a written statement.

He continued, “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.”

The Defending American Property Abroad Act would authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to bar vessels from entering a U.S. port if they used a port, land, or infrastructure that had been seized from an American company by a foreign country in the West. It also allows the U.S. Trade Representative to investigate and respond to foreign governments that deny American companies fair treatment or have nationalized American assets.

Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Katie Britt (R-AL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ted Budd (R-NC), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) cosponsored the legislation and Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) introduced the House version of the bill.

Pfluger said in a statement:

American companies operating abroad should not have to fear arbitrary government actions that undermine their property rights. The Defending American Property Abroad Act will ensure that such actions do not go unchecked and that American businesses are protected from unjust expropriation. The protection of American property rights abroad is essential for fostering economic growth and maintaining our national security. I urge my colleagues in Congress to support this critical legislation and send a clear message that the United States will not tolerate unjust actions against American companies.

In May 2022, then-Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) shut down Vulcan Materials Company’s operations, citing claims that it violated its contract, which led to lawsuits against the company and sending the military to the company’s facilities.

In August 2024, AMLO pushed to designate the Vulcan port and mine a “Protected Natural Area.”

In April 2025, Sens. Hagerty and Kaine sent a letter to Mexican Minister of Economy Ebrard Casaubon, urging him to address Mexico’s unfair treatment of Vulcan Materials Company, which has operated in Mexico for decades and provided thousands of jobs.

“The Mexican government’s unfair targeting of Vulcan Materials Company, a U.S.-based company that employs over 1,000 people in Virginia, is harmful to the relationship between our two countries and severely undermines investor confidence,” Kaine said in a statement. “That’s why I’m joining my colleagues in introducing this bipartisan legislation to deter the illegal seizure of U.S. assets.”