LORDSTOWN — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown called on the President Joe Biden administration to crack down on China sending goods to the United States through Mexico to avoid tariffs and to ban Chinese electric vehicles.

“China dumps these cars and they can sell them cheaply because they pay low wages, they don’t have environmental rules and frankly, they don’t mind losing money if they can put the American companies out of business and we’re not going to let them do that,” Brown, D-Ohio, said during a Friday event at the United Auto Workers Local 1112 union hall.

Brown is running for reelection against Republican Bernie Moreno in the most expensive and one of the most competitive Senate races in the country on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Brown said he has fought presidents from both political parties during his political career over bad trade deals and weak enforcement.

“Politicians from both parties, unfortunately, have sold out our state over and over,” Brown said.

A major concern, Brown said, is China and how it is routing goods, including cars and trucks, through Mexico to avoid paying U.S. tariffs and in violation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

“It’s an existential threat to the American supply chain,” Brown said.

He added, “We can’t allow China to sell cars through Mexico and we call on the administration to tighten enforcement and that any cars China produces, whether it’s Mexico or anywhere else, do not qualify for duty-free entry into the United States.”

Asked how anything would change if Vice President Kamala Harris, a fellow Democrat, is elected president, Brown said, “We keep the pressure on the presidents of both parties. We’ve had better trade enforcement the last 10 years because people in this hall — the UAW and I — work together to push (Barack) Obama, (Donald) Trump, Biden and (George W.) Bush before that to be aggressive on trade enforcement. I don’t care if the president is Republican or Democrat. I’ll take them on if they don’t do trade enforcement.”

As he first did in April, Brown on Friday called for the United States to ban Chinese-made electric vehicles. Brown said not only do they hurt American workers, but the technology in those vehicles could permit the Chinese government to gain access to American data.

Brown in July introduced legislation to ban internet-connected vehicles produced in China within 25 miles of U.S. military bases and other federal installations.

Dave Green, the UAW Region 2B director and former president of Local 1112, said at the event that Brown fights for “trade policies, making sure more Chinese electric vehicles aren’t dumped into this country. It’s a national security issue and it’s going to continue to kill our jobs.”