Brown Withdraws Support for Biden Trade Nominee Over China Lobbying Ties Despite Previously Praising Company's Ohio Investment
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Sen. Sherrod Brown opposes Biden's nominee for deputy US trade representative, Nelson Cunningham, due to his firm's lobbying work for a Chinese glass company. Brown previously welcomed the company's investment in an Ohio factory.
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Cunningham's firm, McLarty Associates, lobbied for Chinese glassmaker Fuyao starting in 2019. Fuyao bought a former GM plant in Ohio in 2014 that Brown helped redevelop.
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Brown spoke at the opening of Fuyao's Ohio factory in 2016, praising the jobs created. But he now faults Fuyao for "union busting activities."
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The Netflix documentary "American Factory" showed Fuyao's Chinese employees discussing how to take advantage of American workers' "overconfidence."
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Cunningham, who never lobbied for Fuyao personally, donated to Brown's 2024 re-election campaign last year. Brown's office says the senator has aggressively challenged companies that fail workers.