Importer Told to Recall Chinese Tires(More Chicom Junk!)

breitbart.com ^ | Jun 25 , 2007 | JEFFREY GOLD

[kellynla]

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Federal safety officials have ordered a tiny tire importer to recall as many as 450,000 tires that it bought from a Chinese manufacturer and sold to U.S. distributors. Foreign Tire Sales Inc., of Union, said an unknown number of the light truck radials it imported since 2002 from Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., of Hangzhou, China, could suffer tread separation, a problem that led to the nation's largest tire recall in 2000.

FTS said an unknown number of the tires it sold were made without a safety feature, called a gum strip, which helps bind the belts of a tire to each other, the company said in a filing to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Some of the tires had a gum strip about half the 0.6 millimeter width that FTS expected, it said.

Heather Hopkins, a spokeswoman for NHTSA, said its enforcement officials spoke to FTS on Monday to "let them know we want a full tire recall to take place."

"It is FTS' responsibility to do this," Hopkins said.

FTS failed to add a "remedy" in its June 11 filing, which is essentially a description of how a company will notify customers and provide proper consumer compensation, Hopkins said.

FTS attorney Lawrence N. Lavigne said the tires appear to meet federal standards but could still pose a risk to motorists.

"FTS, at great expense, investigated this," Lavigne said. The company, which has about a half-dozen employees, doesn't have the money to pay for a recall, he said.

FTS does not have a warehouse. It has tires shipped directly to distributors, who in turn send them to retail outlets, Lavigne said.

FTS said it believes other importers also sold such tires made by Hangzhou Zhongce. The Chinese company has failed to provide information that would allow FTS to determine exactly how many tires, and which batches, have the problem, Lavigne said.

According to the filing, the Hangzhou tires at issue were sold under at least four brand names—Westlake, Compass, Telluride and YKS—in these sizes: LT235/75R-15; LT225/75R-16; LT235/85R-16; LT245/75R-16; LT265/75R-16; and LT3X10.5-15.

FTS on May 31 sued Hangzhou in U.S. District Court in Newark, charging that its tests found that the tires may fail earlier than those originally provided by Hangzhou, and that a recall would put FTS out of business. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and an injunction that would bar Hangzhou products from being imported.

The lawsuit was reported Monday by The Wall Street Journal.

The Associated Press was not immediately able to contact the company. A Hangzhou official reached by The Journal said: "We are aware of this matter, and we are now in the process of responding to the lawsuit. Production and sales at our company remain normal."

FTS said it became concerned about Hangzhou tires in October 2005 amid an increase in warranty claims and began talks with the Chinese company, and then commissioned its own tests.

FTS was sued in Philadelphia on May 4 by the families of two men killed when a van they were riding in crashed last year. Also suing are the driver and passenger in the van, which the lawsuits claim had Hangzhou tires.

The nation's largest recall involved 14.7 million Firestone tires in said Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, a consumer group. "I wouldn't expect this to rise to that number," he said.

FTS, in its filing, said it sold Hangzhou tires to these distributors: Tireco, in Compton, Calif.; Strategic Import Supply, in Wayzata, Minn.; Omni United USA Inc., in Jacksonville, Fla.; Orteck International Inc., in Gaithersburg, Md.; K&D Tire Wholesalers LLC, in Carlsbad, Calif.; and Robinson Tire, in Laurel, Miss.

[kellynla]

If the Chicoms can't poison us all, they're gonna try to kill us on our roads & highways.

How do you say "embargo" in Chinese.

[dynachrome]

Quality control = F-— ‘em in Chinese.

[freekitty]

And guess who will pay the price? The taxpayer.

[jiggyboy]

related thread (different source &c, not a dupe): http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1856148/posts

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

Does anyone know of a site compiling food products imported from China, and by whom? I noticed on a product I buy weekly that it was made by Kraft Global, or something like that, and “distributed” by Kraft. No mention of where it was made .... yikes.

[Graybeard58]

Can’t answer your question but be aware, Hershey is moving their candy making to Mexico.

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

Yuck.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

mom4kittys a ping list for Chinezz Fud/Pizen/Junk...;0)

[Graybeard58]

The FDA has the power to stop shipments at the border and collect samples and test for certain contaminants that may be in violation of U.S. regulations. Last month, it refused 215 shipments from mainland China for various reasons. A shipment of dried red dates from Chongqing was considered filthy, frozen swordfish from Shandong contained a poisonous substance and ginseng from Changsha had unsafe pesticides.

But the food shipments that get tested are the exception, not the rule. “The volume of food imports from overseas is approaching 10 million per year, and the number that FDA inspectors physically examine is in the single digit thousands — making it virtually certain that any given food shipment will enter the United States with no FDA inspection,”

Much more here:

http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=9053

[Western Phil]

“FTS said an unknown number of the tires it sold were made without a safety feature, called a gum strip, which helps bind the belts of a tire to each other, the company said in a filing to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration”

The Chinese probably left this step out to get carbon credits.

[Abby4116]

Does anyone know of a site compiling food products imported from China, and by whom? I noticed on a product I buy weekly that it was made by Kraft Global, or something like that, and “distributed” by Kraft. No mention of where it was made .... yikes.

It seems that most foodstuffs do not say where they are from, which is very disturbing.

[org.whodat]

FTS will file and be out of business in days. Who is the owner?

[pissant]

I buy absolutely nothing from the chicoms. Drives my wife nuts sometimes, but she is catching on.

[org.whodat]

Can’t answer your question but be aware, Hershey is moving their candy making to Mexico.

Have had my last Hershey!

[hunter112]

With all the recalls, I'm sure the retailers bear a lot of expense. Even if they get reimbursed for the shoddy/dangerous merchandise, they spend a lot of employee time on pulling things from shelves, and sending things back.

It's going to have to be retailers that say, "Can I find an alternative to commie Chinese crap?"

[gridlock]

"FTS, at great expense, investigated this," Lavigne said. The company, which has about a half-dozen employees, doesn't have the money to pay for a recall, he said.

FTS supplied cut rate tires from a crappy Chinese manufacturer. They are responsible for the consequences. They get exactly zero sympathy from me.

They could have supplied tires from a reputable manufacturer, but they went half way around the World to find cheap garbage so they could make a quick buck. Nobody forced them to do business with a cheap Chinese manufacturer.

And then when they sold out to make the quick buck on the Chinese garbage, they purposely looked the other way and pretended that Chinese quality control is reliable. Any child knows this is not true.

FTS deserves whatever hurt they have coming to them, up to and including getting sued into the poorhouse.

[am452]

“The company, which has about a half-dozen employees, doesn’t have the money to pay for a recall, he said. “

They made the money and it is now in offshore bank accounts. They will declare bankruptcy and stick the insurace companies and tax payers with the bill.

[gridlock]

The retailers won’t budge until the customer balks at buying whatever garbage it is that the Chinese are producing.

And quality control is only one (very good) reason to avoid doing business with the ChiComs. Another good one is that many of their largest manufacturers are owned by the People’s Liberation Army, who take the money earned on foreign sales and use it to buy weapons that will be aimed at American soldiers.

Somebody of my aquaintance, a few years back, made up little pressure sensitive labels that said “PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THIS ITEM WILL BE USED TO INCINERATE YOUR CHILDREN”, and then had a lot of fun applying them right next to the MADE IN CHINA labels on all of the stuff at his local WalMart.

[Graybeard58]

Have had my last Hershey!

And:

100 Calorie Bar, Almond Joy, Cacao Reserve, Cadbury, 5th Avenue, Heath, Pot Of Gold (boxed chocolates), Hershey Sticks, Kissables, Hershey Kisses, Kit Kat, Krackel. Mauna Loa, Milk Duds, Mounds, Mr. Goodbar, Payday, All Reeses products, Rolo, Smores, Take 5, Whoppers, York Peppermint Patties.

[org.whodat]

And: 100 Calorie Bar, Almond Joy, Cacao Reserve, Cadbury, 5th Avenue, Heath, Pot Of Gold (boxed chocolates), Hershey Sticks, Kissables, Hershey Kisses, Kit Kat, Krackel. Mauna Loa, Milk Duds, Mounds, Mr. Goodbar, Payday, All Reeses products, Rolo, Smores, Take 5, Whoppers, York Peppermint Patties.

Good thing I like Mars bars!

[hunter112]

Somebody of my aquaintance, a few years back, made up little pressure sensitive labels that said “PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THIS ITEM WILL BE USED TO INCINERATE YOUR CHILDREN”, and then had a lot of fun applying them right next to the MADE IN CHINA labels on all of the stuff at his local WalMart.

Wow.

That's a lot of labels...

[Muleteam1]

>>Foreign Tire Sales Inc., of Union, said an unknown number of the light truck radials it imported since 2002 from Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., of Hangzhou, China, could suffer tread separation, a problem that led to the nation's largest tire recall in 2000.<<

Hmmm, did Firestone move to China?

[randog]

FTS will file and be out of business in days. Who is the owner?

Given that they're just an office that arranges drop shipments from the manufacturer, I suspect that they're wholly owned by the Chinese manufacturer. IOW, good luck suing for damages.

[ears_to_hear]

more here

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1856148/posts

[Dick Bachert]

(And before someone asks, I will post this until the idiots in government alter this insane and now dangerous UNILATERAL trade policy with China and the fools in the multinationals STOP exporting the production of EVERYTHING to China and bring those jobs home. As you think about that, recall that in ancient times, the Romans and others would catapult disease-riddled corpses over the walls of cities they besieged to sicken and kill the enemy. The Chinese know that history even if we obviously have forgotten it. (Get my drift there?)

On a recent visit to China, a friend spotted this ad in a Beijing newspaper. He sent me the photo with a translation of the ad copy.

BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR AND JOIN CHINA’S NEW MONIED ELITE!

Yes, you can now join the millions of happy and prosperous Chinese citizens taking advantage of the growing numbers of American and Western multinational corporations “outsourcing” their production to the hard-working and industrious people of China. This outsourcing has now spread to their food supplies and ingestible items. Since these firms pay us for gross weight – and this new weight will be pretty gross – and the stupid American government only spot-checks imported items in these categories (they just got lucky on the anti-freeze thing), it has opened an entirely new opportunity which our beloved Chairman is offering to any Chinese citizen willing to do a little of what the foolish Americans call “grunt work.”

Installing one of these state-of-the-art food additive production facilities behind YOUR hovel is as simple as clipping the coupon below and sending it to the address shown. Your production plant will be shipped to you in 4 to 6 weeks. Supplies are limited so don’t fart around. ACT NOW!!

These silly Americans have an expression we have “borrowed” and modified to describe this new and exciting venture: “Don’t give me any s**t.”

Our motto will be “We won’t GIVE you any s**t. But we’ll SELL it to you fools at a really great price.”

AND LOOK FOR A NEW DROP-DEAD MONEY-MAKER COMING SOON. SOYLENT YELLOW PROMISES TO BE BIG

[kellynla]

“I buy absolutely nothing from the chicoms. Drives my wife nuts sometimes, but she is catching on.”

and if you’re interested in buying MADE IN USA
here are some websites
http://www.usstuff.com
http://www.madeinusa.org
http://www.buyamericanmart.com

[pissant]

Got ‘em bookmarked. Thanks.

[Segovia]

Damn! I had a set of those tires put on my car last fall in the middle of the first ice storm-—the only thing left in the tire shop that would fit my SUV, and I’ve been saying for the last several months that I’m going to buy another set when these ware out, because they are absolutely the best tires I’ve had in ten years. They still, after 20000 mi still have most of their tread, never spun or skid, and never even required air added! I ware out a lot of tires, (usually at above 70mph) and usually buy Firestones or Michelins. Why would you suppose this is?

[glorgau]

FTS deserves whatever hurt they have coming to them, up to and including getting sued into the poorhouse.

IANAL, but as I have been told, the directors of the firm bear personal legal responsibility. The corporate shield is not impenetrable.

[kellynla]

ya reeeeely have to check tires these days...

even many of the Good Years, Firestones etc. are made overseas or south of the border.

if you’re looking for snow tires ya might check these out
MADE IN USA
http://www.greendiamond.com

but you really have to do your homework when it comes to tires...consumer reports & consumer digest

[kellynla]

oops wrong link for green diamond tires
here it is
http://www.greendiamondtire.com

[metmom]

NOT York Peppermint Patties! NOOOOO!!!!!

[kevinw]

Let’s send all the goods made in China back to China.

[TheMole]

...safety officials have ordered a tiny tire importer to recall as many as 450,000 tires...

OK, maybe they're not Goodyear, but is half a million tires really a "tiny" operation? And, those are just the ones they have to recall -- I assume that they sold more than that.

[ridesthemiles]

And guess who will pay the price? The taxpayer.”

Global Markets-—yup—they work real well, don’t they?

Cannot insert production standards all over the world.
Food- Tires-Pet food-—doesn’t matter. Let them drive on their own tires. We need to make our own products-here- now.

[mom4kittys]

[sweetiepiezer]

“Hershey is moving their candy making to Mexico.”

They are also opening two plants overseas, one in India and one in China!!!!!