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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you again, Mr. Secretary, for joining us today. I always
00:07find conversations with you to be quite interesting. Last time, when you appeared before us at
00:13this committee, which was last year, obviously, we discussed President López O'Barton's
00:19military invasion of the Vulcan Materials Company's port in the property of Mexico.
00:25We had quite an extensive conversation. I talked about my trip into Mexico, into Central
00:31America, trying to understand what's going on there. And, of course, things have not
00:35changed much. But as you know, the military has since left, after taking it by military
00:41force. And the President has continued to harass Vulcan and is actively threatening
00:48to steal the company's land to access that port. It's a deepwater port that Vulcan
00:53actually built. They spent their own money, a billion dollars worth of investments to
00:57build that port. Now Mexico's just going to take it, is the image that we're given here.
01:04Last year, we agreed these type of actions would have a chilling impact on the bilateral
01:11relationship and future with U.S. investments in Mexico. Considering the ongoing situation,
01:18what message would you send to the President and the next President of Mexico and the U.S.
01:25business community?
01:26Thank you very much. Yes, I remember well our conversation about this last year. And
01:31I'd say two things. First, Vulcan, I believe, has filed an arbitration case under NAFTA,
01:38which is pending. And so I can't take a position on the merits of the case, which is pending.
01:43I can say that as a general matter, these cases, these instances, yes, can very much
01:50negatively impact Mexico's efforts to attract investment from the United States and, by
01:55the way, from many other countries as well. So we think it's very important that Mexico
02:00take that into consideration because it will have an impact on what they seek to do, which
02:06is to bring in more investment. But on that particular matter, let's see where the case
02:12goes before the arbitration panel.
02:14Well, as you say that, American-based companies are losing a lot of money. What was mined
02:19or what is being mined from that facility is building roads here in America. It's very
02:23important in our infrastructure. And I know this administration has put a lot of emphasis
02:29on infrastructure. Why do we not support our American businesses more? Why aren't we letting
02:35the avocados and the fruits and vegetables sit at the border for a little while and let
02:39them figure out a timeframe? Because waiting a year, two years, four years for a court
02:44to work it out is not working. It's not working at all.
02:48My hope and expectation would be that precisely because we tried to put, I believe the previous
02:53administration put processes into NAFTA, the renewed, revised NAFTA, that would enable
03:02it to look at these kinds of cases and act swiftly on them, not bottle them up for years
03:09I think you're exactly right. It's imperative that happens. But there is a mechanism. There
03:13is an understanding about how we try to resolve these disputes. And that should play out,
03:18but it should, I agree with you, play out quickly.
03:21Meanwhile, we have our diplomats all over the world engaged every single day in commercial
03:26advocacy, commercial diplomacy, trying to resolve disputes, trying to make sure that
03:31our businesses, our workers are being treated fairly around the world. It's a critical part
03:34of their mission. And whether that's in Mexico or any other place around the world where
03:39the United States and our businesses are engaged, that's what our folks are there
03:42for every single day. And we, of course, will look at whatever measures are appropriate
03:46to try to make sure that we're being treated fairly with a level playing field.
03:51Well, if the president of Mexico will do this to Vulcan Materials, they'll do it to anyone.
03:57And I highly encourage business communities in America that's looking at doing business
04:01down there to stop and think because they may be next.
04:04Thank you.
04:06Thank you. Well, that said, Mr. Chairman, you're on my time.
04:09Well, thank you, Mr.