Angry in the Great White North

CNN is reporting that Americans who purchased allegedly defective Chinese-made tires will be able to get a refund and a replacement, if they are lucky, that is:

The company that imported Chinese tires at the center of a recall demand by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will recall the tires and replace them until the company, Foreign Tire Sales (FTS), has run out of funds.

A lawyer for FTS said the company will begin the notifying owners of the tires on Monday and will continue the recall until the company has run out of money.

Once the company has replaced as many of the tires as it can, the company will have to declare bankruptcy.

Lawrence Levigne, the attorney representing the New Jersey-based distributor of the imported tires, estimated that the company has enough funds to replace about 10 percent of the 450,000 tires that may be defective.

The tires, made by China-based Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., have an insufficient or missing gum strip, a rubber feature that helps prevent steel belts inside the tire from separating or from damaging the rubber.

I've discovered at least one Canadian-based distributor of Westlake tires made in the Hangzhou factory. No word yet if Canadians have reason to be concerned, or if anyone in authority has looked into this on our side of the border.