The reporting referenced recent federal legislation pushing the U.S. Department of Justice to update federal lawmakers on its ongoing investigation involving Chinese-owned companies such as Fuyao over concerns including human trafficking.
The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno wants to see the Fuyao plant under new ownership. Moreno’s office did not respond to questions from the Dayton Daily News.
A Dayton Daily News reporter asked former U.S. senator Sherrod Brown about Fuyao at a campaign stop in the area Wednesday.
“Until we understand who our friends are, until businesses put workers at the table, which we know Fuyao hasn’t done, American workers can pay the price,” Brown said.
“I’ve been concerned about this for a long time,” said Brown, who intends to mount a comeback bid against Sen. Jon Husted in the November Senate election. “I know that other companies in Ohio and Crestline and other places are concerned about this. I know the workers are concerned and I would hope the administration would get its act together to help here. And they haven’t.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Moreno unseated Brown in November 2024. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Husted to the Senate seat vacated by current Vice President JD Vance in January 2025.
The Journal paraphrased Husted as saying he was concerned about allegations of employee trafficking to supply Fuyao workers in Moraine.
“When Sherrod Brown was in Washington, he lost the trade war against China — I plan to win it," Husted told the Dayton Daily News Wednesday. “What was he doing when China was buying Ohio farmland? Nothing. He spent his time in Congress supporting radical policies that put farmers last, like the Green New Deal, which would jack up gas prices and put solar panels across Ohio’s farmlands. His record shows again and again that he put Washington special interests above the needs of Ohioans.”
The House and Senate sent the White House a package of government funding bills that include a call for the Trump administration to detail investigative steps involving labor practices by Chinese automotive glass producers operating in the United States.
Fuyao is not directly named in the legislation, but the connection seems clear.
The bill focuses on automotive glassmakers tied to the Chinese Communist Party and follows the company’s plant being raided by federal agents in the summer of 2024.
Federal investigators have zeroed in on a network of companies referred to in court filings as E-Z Iron Works, to which Fuyao allegedly paid $126 million.
Fuyao has not been named as a focus of the investigation. Fuyao representatives, for their part, have said the company has done nothing wrong.
“The company has been a significant taxpayer and has made substantial investments in the state, employing more than 3,000 people in Ohio,” Fuyao said in a recent statement. “As a major supplier of automotive glass to U.S. manufacturers and recipient of investment incentives, FGA has undergone rigorous independent audits that have consistently confirmed its compliance with legal obligations.
“As a publicly listed multinational corporation, Fuyao Group is subject to rigorous public disclosure requirements, independent auditing, and regulatory oversight consistent with international standards for publicly traded companies around the world,” the company added.
Chris Kershner, president and CEO of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, recently told the Dayton Daily News he believes the legislation targeting Fuyao is backed by commercial competition.
“This amendment was sought by a Mexican competitor to Fuyao that is struggling, so the congressman representing their Kentucky plant agreed to do it,” Kershner said.
“This is about a competitor trying to use the law against their competition. The fact is that we’ve got a Dayton-area company with 30% of the global auto glass market and employing 3,500 people in our community. We should be proud of that.”
Staff writers Sydney Dawes and Josh Sweigart contributed to this report.
About the Author
