The Biden administration on Tuesday expressed concern over the Mexican military’s seizure of property belonging to a U.S. company in Mexico, suggesting the situation could lead to negative consequences for the country’s ability to conduct business.
Members of the Mexican Navy, local state police and federal investigators entered the quarry just south of Playa del Carmen in Mexico’s Quintana, according to Vulcan Materials, a Birmingham, Alabama-based company and the largest producer of construction aggregates in the US. Roo is in the early morning hours of March 14 and has remained ever since.
The company said the seizure was likely due to the breakdown of contract negotiations between the company and CEMEX, a Mexican materials company it had previously provided services with, and ongoing tensions with the Mexican government over its mining activities.
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U.S. President Joe Biden (L) shakes hands with his Mexican counterpart Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during a welcoming ceremony at the Palacio Nacional (National Palace) in Mexico City, on Jan. 9, 2023. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a State Department spokesperson said the government was concerned about the treatment of U.S. companies in Mexico and that they regularly speak with Mexican officials about the expectation that they will be treated fairly and in accordance with trade obligations. . .
The spokesman noted that such obligations provide trade and investment security within Mexico, and said such instances could potentially impact the US’s ability to realize its shared vision with the Mexican government for improving the livelihoods of the economic disadvantaged regions of the country.
They added that the situation could also affect Mexico’s efforts to attract future investment.
American children missing in Mexico
This screenshot from a Vulcan Materials security video shows Mexican police and military entering the company’s facility in Quintana Roo, Mexico on March 14, 2023. (Vulcan materials)
The spokesperson also told Fox that the US Embassy in Mexico and the State Department were actively involved in the matter.
The seizure of Vulcan’s property sparked outrage among U.S. government officials, including Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who represents the state in which Vulcan is located.
“Vulcan Materials Company has been operating a limestone quarry in Mexico for more than 30 years that has created good jobs both in Mexico and Alabama,” he said in a statement. “Yet President López Obrador and the Mexican government have repeatedly undermined Vulcan’s ability to operate in Mexico.”
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Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., listens at a Senate Agriculture, Food, and Forestry Committee hearing on Washington’s Capitol Hill Thursday, March 11, 2021, on climate change. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Tuberville said he urged President Biden to confront the Mexican president about his aggression toward Vulcan last year, but that Biden “hid his head in the sand.”
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“The failure of President Biden’s leadership has only emboldened Mexico to continue hostile actions against Vulcan that endanger workers and jeopardize our supply chains in the Southeastern United States. The illegal seizure of the Vulcan port facility is just the latest example of the Mexican government taking advantage of President Biden’s weakness, and the situation will only get worse until the president addresses it head-on,” he said.
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.