Materials producers urge Congress to preserve aggregates exemption to Build America, Buy America; recounts of Mexican expropriation raised

Janet Cavanokey, testifying for Vulcan Materials Company, told the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit that the construction materials sector supports steady, predictable federal highway funding and relies on a narrow Build America, Buy America (BABA) exemption for certain aggregates and cementitious materials.

Cavanokey explained that geological reality—‘‘rock only is where rock is’’—requires importing aggregates to serve parts of the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coasts and other regions without local quarry resources. She said an exemption for certain imported aggregate and cementitious materials was essential to avoid supply disruptions and dramatically higher costs for infrastructure projects in those markets.

Cavanokey also described a separate international business dispute: she said Vulcan’s quarry and deep‑water export operations in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, were ordered shut in May 2022 and later expropriated by the Mexican government. She told the committee that the expropriation affected supply chains that serve U.S. ports and that congressional attention and trade remedies were appropriate to address the treatment of U.S. firms investing abroad.

Members asked about construction cost inflation and whether a more focused multiyear authorization would help projects move forward; Cavanokey and others said predictable multi‑year contract authority is vital for state planning and for the supply chain that supports projects.