Watch: Senate holds hearing on Panama Canal’s impact on trade, national security

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing Tuesday morning focused on the Panama Canal‘s impact on U.S. trade and national security.

Witnesses include representatives from the Federal Maritime Commission and experts in shipping law.

“Serving forty percent of U.S. seaborne container trade, the Panama Canal is vital to American economic and national security interests,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who chairs the committee, said in a statement announcing the hearing. “The United States paid for and built the Panama Canal, but Panama is treating America unfairly and ceding control of key infrastructure to China.”

The event comes just over a month after President Trump suggested the U.S. could seize control of the canal. He has not ruled out using military force to gain the territory currently owned and operated by Panama, a move that has garnered some pushback.

The hearing was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EST.

Watch the video replay above.