With President Joe Biden set to vacate the Oval Office in a matter of days, it appears the departing Democrat and his staff are bitterly trying to undermine the opening days of the incoming Trump Administration.
Recently, it was revealed that Biden has authorized a representative of his administration to engage in talks with foreign powers with the aim of reinterpreting Annex 14-C of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. The section of the agreement ensures that American citizens who invest in Canada or Mexico have appropriate recourse for arbitrary or discriminatory treatment or expropriation of certain investments.
Following the development, Alabama’s U.S. Senators, Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, raised issue with the closed-door discussions arguing that any agreement met without the consent or appropriate consultation with Congress is void.
This week, the two lawmakers introduced a concurring resolution framing their argument against the eleventh-hour negotiations particularly any that would harm Vulcan Materials.
“President Biden’s lame-duck administration is effectively renegotiating USMCA behind closed doors without properly informing Congress and without regard for American interests,” Britt (R-Montgomery) said.
“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.”
It’s not the first time Britt and Tuberville have worked together to fight encroachments on Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials. In March of 2023, Mexican armed forces seized a port facility owned by the company in Quintana Roo, Mexico. The occupation lasted more than a month placing the property in control of the Mexican government. After months of unrelenting pressure from many including Alabama’s Senators, Mexico’s president conceded and handed control of the location back to the company.
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Tuberville assured Alabamians that he and Britt will continue working closely together to protect Alabama businesses and ensure that they are “first on the world stage.”
“The American people issued a mandate on November 5: they want President Trump’s agenda, and they want it now,” said Tuberville (R-Auburn).
“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.”
Austen Shipley is the News Director for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten
