EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Thom Tillis blasts Australian conglomerate over ‘underhanded tactics’ involving North Carolina first-responder supplier

Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) is throwing his support behind a North Carolina manufacturer involved in an international business dispute, accusing an Australian conglomerate of using “underhanded tactics” that he said are effectively attempting to push the American company out of business.

The dispute has increasingly drawn the attention of North Carolina Republicans in Congress because of HiViz Lighting’s role in supplying the nation’s fire apparatus industry and the company’s plans to expand manufacturing in the United States.

“Small businesses are the backbone of North Carolina’s economy, and Hendersonville’s own HiViz Lighting has been critical to supplying our nation’s first responder vehicles,” Tillis told the Washington Reporter in an exclusive statement.

“Australia is one of America’s strongest allies, which makes it perplexing that an Australian conglomerate is effectively attempting to push HiViz Lighting out of business with underhanded tactics,” Tillis continued. “Given that the strong economic ties between the United States and Australia are based on mutual benefit, respect, and friendship, the least this Australian company can do is continue the independent legal process based on the current contract with HiViz Lighting.”

The business dispute was flagged to the Reporter as an example of North Carolina Republicans standing up for American jobs and domestic manufacturing.

The Reporter independently reviewed court filings, correspondence involving the companies, communications with members of Congress and other documents related to the dispute. Those records show an ongoing legal fight involving HiViz, its longtime supplier and Australian parent company Amotiv Limited, including competing claims over tooling and design materials that HiViz says it needs to shift production to other suppliers.

Tillis’s intervention follows scrutiny from Rep. Chuck Edwards (R., N.C.), whose district includes HiViz’s Hendersonville operations.

Edwards previously contacted HiViz seeking information about its supply chain and potential risks to the American fire apparatus industry. In a July 29 response reviewed by the Reporter, HiViz CEO Sam Massa told Edwards that his company was facing what he described as an “existential dispute” involving its longtime supplier.

HiViz told Edwards that it began taking steps to diversify its supply chain in late 2025, including investing approximately $7 million in a new North Carolina manufacturing facility and developing relationships with alternative suppliers.

According to HiViz’s account to Edwards, its longtime supplier subsequently issued a termination notice effective Aug. 24 and has declined to release certain tooling and design files that HiViz says it needs to manufacture its products through other suppliers.

The dispute is now the subject of legal proceedings. In a filing reviewed by the Reporter in the Federal Court of Australia, HiViz alleges that Amotiv and one of its subsidiaries engaged in unconscionable conduct in connection with the supply dispute, including by seeking to prevent HiViz from diversifying its supply chain and declining to provide tooling and design materials.

Those allegations have not been adjudicated, and Amotiv disputes HiViz’s claims.

According to a letter from HiViz to Amotiv’s board reviewed by the Reporter, Amotiv CEO Graeme Whickman characterized the matter during an investor call as a commercial dispute and said he did not believe there were grounds for the claims brought in Australian federal court. Whickman also said Amotiv would like to continue doing business with HiViz.

The potential impact alleged by HiViz on the first-responder supply chain has helped turn what began as a private commercial dispute into an issue drawing attention on Capitol Hill.

Massa has said HiViz products are used on fire apparatus across the country as well as equipment serving the U.S. military and other federal agencies. He has also said the company is building a new 35,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in North Carolina as part of an approximately $7 million investment expected to create nearly 100 jobs.

With Tillis now weighing in, both he and Edwards have raised concerns about the implications of the dispute for a North Carolina manufacturer, domestic manufacturing investment and the supply chain for equipment used by first responders.

Tillis is calling for the existing legal process to continue.

“The least this Australian company can do,” Tillis said, “is continue the independent legal process based on the current contract with HiViz Lighting.”