Angry in the Great White North

The NHTSA isn't pulling any punches on the question of the tires made by China's Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber:

The head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday blasted a New Jersey tire distributor [Foreign Tire Sales] for claiming it could not afford to recall imported Chinese tires that could come apart, and are already blamed in two deaths.

"They can't wash their hands of it. That's not an option," NHTSA administrator Nicole Nason said Tuesday, a day after news of the recall broke.

Nason said FTS' attempt to skirt a recall is "unbelievable." NHTSA's rules are very clear, she adds. If a company imports vehicles or vehicle parts, it is considered a manufacturer.

"What we are saying very clearly to FTS is: If you chose to do business with a foreign company, you are responsible for making sure that the equipment meets our standards," Nason said.

FTS has until July 2 to respond to NHTSA's letter, which demands more information on the faulty tires and a plan of action for recalling the tires. FTS referred calls seeking comment to its attorney, Lawrence Lavigne, who did not return calls Tuesday.

In the meantime, while the government hashes out how the recall will be formally conducted, NHTSA is advising consumers who have the tires to replace them. The tires were sold under the brands Westlake, Telluride, YKS and Compass.

Consumers should save the old, recalled tires and their receipt for the new ones.

I found a distributor in Mississauga, just outside of Toronto, who sells Westlake brand tires, exactly of the sizes named in the NHTSA filing, and explicitly identified as being made by Hangzhou. So I have to wonder where Transport Canada is in all of this. Are these the same tires? How many have been sold? Are Canadian drivers being told to remove the tires or risk being involved in serious, potentially deadly, accidents?

When the counterfeit Colgate toothpaste story broke in the US, nothing seemed to happen here until I got in the car and drove to a dollar store and bought a tube of "South African" toothpaste in order to prove that Canadian consumers were potentially exposed to a serious health risk. I don't want to do this twice in a week.