As if poisoned pet food wasn't enough, Chinese tires failing now
by Sam Abuelsamid on Jun 25th 2007 at 7:34PM 
In recent years, products made in China have gained more renown for being cheap than for the quality control behind them. Up until now, inexpensive sneakers that fall apart after a few weeks or DVD players that work erratically have been more of an annoyance and an economic threat as opposed to a physical one. Recent headlines would suggest that might be changing, however. The contaminated pet food that killed dozens of cats not long ago and the video of a Chinese car collapsing in on itself during a European crash test bring the issue of potentially hazardous Chinese imports to a whole new level.
Foreign Tire Sales, Inc. of Union, NJ is suing China's Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. over a series of catastrophic failures of tires they manufactured that resulted in a fatal car crash in Pennsylvania. Hangzhou has been manufacturing tires sold by FTS and other distributors that left out an extra layer of rubber between the steel belts, causing them to overheat and have tread separation similar to the Firestone tires that failed on Ford Explorers several years ago. The tires may need to be recalled and FTS doesn't have the financial resources to deal with something like that, so it's suing the Chinese company to cover the expenses since they built the tires in a way that differed from what was specified. The Wall Street Journal's report on the matter contains additional details, and is well worth a read.
Thanks to Mike for the tip.
[Source: Wall Street Journal]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Gardiner Westbound 7:42PM (6/25/2007)
Good luck suing a Red Chinese company. It would probably be easier and cheaper to sue God.
What do FTS's customers do in the meantime.
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Alex Nunez 7:44PM (6/25/2007)
Well, I'd be at the tire store, myself...
bmoredlj 7:47PM (6/25/2007)
SUING a company in the PRC? *Scoff*...Good Luck with that...
This is a government that pulls pregnant women out of their homes and forces them to abort at the local hospital; uses child labor to manufacture Olympic merchandise; displaced a million people and flooded dozens of towns and villages to build a dam; and executes incompetent bureaucrats who embarass the Party (okay, maybe that last one is all right...)
In any case, FTS has its work cut out for it.
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jgp 9:43PM (6/25/2007)
This shit is why China should be barred from having any trade or diplomatic relations with the US or any other civilized country, until they renounce their system of government.
indymcsc 7:56PM (6/25/2007)
After reading that article FTS should be held responsible first. Did they not check the quality of the manufacturing before selling it?
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Edward 8:13PM (6/25/2007)
What's with the hate for "Made in China"?
EVERYTHING is made in China nowadays. Autoblog makes it sound like everything made there is defective/crappy. Not the case. The two isolated cases mentioned (pet food and tires) are more about a bad batch than a full-blown national quality issue. It would be similarly unfair to criticise the entire American manufacturing industry given two specific product recalls.
Besides. You get what you pay for. And, last time I checked, it's the western world that's (happily) buying most of China's cheap products.
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Henry Reithinger 8:27PM (6/25/2007)
That's right.
We need to buy Made In Proud Germany.
High quality labor, attention to detail, and built German Tough.
You pay more, but you get what you pay for.
It's the quality that lasts.
smartmlp 8:28PM (6/25/2007)
I don't know what you are thinking, but 90% of the stuff I own that was made in China is absolutely sub par to the stuff that was made in North America/Europe. There are a few exceptions to this, but for the most part is true.
Stoneman 8:36PM (6/25/2007)
There's outrage because the products that are coming out are not toothpicks or cans of mushrooms. These are safety-critical products like tires, auto parts, and entire cars.
The entire Chinese auto industry is set on copying US, Japan, and German cars. Hell, they even slap two entirely different cars together (copies) and badge it their own creation. The audacity. I consider the Chinese auto industry to be as ingenious and inventive as a 4-year old child who mimics their parent.
Until the Chinese stop forcing their dollar down in value and begin a real free market economy (read: Democracy), nothing good will come out of China. Their cars suck. Buy Japanese cars. End of story.
Stoneman
http://www.stonemanautoreview.com
skeptic 9:15AM (6/26/2007)
Another recent "Made in China" recall was Thomas toy trains. The Chinese company used LEAD PAINT!!! This stuff has been banned in the U.S. for over 20 years.
I am sorry, but I agree that some serious reviews of using Chinese made products needs to be done.
john park 2:08PM (6/26/2007)
you get what you pay for ... as the saying goes.
chinese products are getting a bad rap ... why ??? cause PEOPLE'S SAFETY ARE OF NO CONCERN TO THEM !!!! they will not assume responsibility instead either collapse the company or ignore the situation all together.
this is not a good way to start an empire ... unfortunately i can see this causing MANY more issues in the near future (ie. human death, illness with no one to blame other than western firms taking advantage of cheap labor with no regard for protocol and safety).
I don't think we should be asking "why all the hate" ... without critics ... would we allow this to go without question ? I think not.
icu812ru469 1:24PM (6/26/2007)
Look, it's up to the manufacturer to INSPECT and perform QA on a product before it is released. There are plenty of "components" made in China which are then assembled and "made" somewhere else (i.e. Japan, Germany, etc.) which are plenty good. Look, $100 Michelin, $100 for 4 FTS special, common sense tells you they're not going to be equivalent.
John 8:33PM (6/25/2007)
The issue here is clearly with regard to more complex and advanced products. Sure the Chinese can make an adequate teddy bear or T-shirt. When it comes to cheap products like that, it doesn't matter too much where something is made.
However, automobiles and their tires are much more difficult to manufacture properly and much more dangerous if poorly constructed. There are a lot of reasons to be skeptical of Chinese products of this sort. I for one want no part of them.
First of all, the Chinese still mostly use state ownership, which means rampant corruption and inefficiency right off the bat. Second, given the nature of the Chinese communist government in particular, they have zero regard for human life and less than zero regard for telling the truth. Third of all, the Chinese are well behind the curve technologically and most of their manufacturing experience is low-tech.
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moa 4:13AM (6/26/2007)
chinese can do sophisticated goods, problem is that they do everything you want from them. do you want $10 tyre? no problem, they gonna manufacture it. of course it will be 50% rubber, 50% dog shit.
Guenther 3:10PM (6/26/2007)
moa- best. comment. today.
kballs 6:16PM (6/26/2007)
I agree. Garbage in, garbage out.
Chinese companies can make good quality products if the people ordering them force them meet a high standard and don't sacrifice safety and quality just to skimp on cost. The problem is, when you do that it ends up being almost as expensive as building products in the US or EU once you add overhead... but execs want 50% savings, not 10%, so quality is thrown out the window more often than not.
PakieMak 8:34PM (6/25/2007)
Edward, With respect, you forgot to mention:
1. toothpaste - contaminated
2. brake pads and rotors - failing
3. HUGE patent thief
4. medications found - contaminated or wrong
5. batteries
Some westerners have no choice with these purchases... because they end up mixed in with "real" items. You think you're getting the proper medication... think again. More and more cases are popping up with major companies trembling because this china junk got mixed in by greedy hands before it reaches the plant.
We have to stop purchasing from China. They do not have the same strict guidelines as the normal world does.
It's time to wake up and protect ourselves.
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Owen 7:20AM (6/26/2007)
The worst part is, we don't even have a choice. If I wanted to go buy a DVD player made in the USA, or a pair of sneakers (even New Balance gets most of their material from there) what are my choices? I don't have any. The people are only partially responsible for it, yes, there are the dumbass americans (and elsewhere too) who don't bother to look where it's made and blindly purchase on price alone. But then there are the rest of us who actually try to buy items that aren't manufactured under a supressive communist regime with questionable business practices, but are flat out of luck because EVERYTHING is made there. And who can you really blame?... greedy CEO's who are trying everything to maximize the investors profits, that's who.
My recommendation for stopping the Chinese economic steamroller... before you buy, take a look at where it's made, if it says China, look elsewhere, if no-one else makes it anywhere else, ask yourself if you really need it. Then we'll show OUR CEO's, investors and OUR government if we can really survive as a service economy.
Now I just got back from China a couple of weeks ago and I don't want people to think that I'm anti-Chinese, I'm just anti-Chinese government. Everything over there is a shady deal. You want to open a new plant, well you better grease the pockets of the local party leader, etc... I see and hear oppression everywhere I go there. All the money we spend on products isn't going to the people of china, it's going to the government, that money is then trickling down through the corrupt politicians, and eventually through to some of the people. People can complain all they want, nothing will stop the influx of Chinese goods faster than people not buying them.
Doc Lucas 11:41AM (6/26/2007)
Owen & PakieMak, IMHO you hit the nail on the head, although I cannot speak for what it's like to do business in China.
I would rather buy something once, or less often, even if it means paying more... whether it's clothing, or a wine opener. It's ironic that the places to buy quality stuff are now Goodwill / Salvation Army / etc. Brake parts... I've ranted about them on here before, they are less effective, and short-lived.
Bret 8:43PM (6/25/2007)
The FTS tires produced by the Chinese company are sold under the brand names Westlake, Telluride, Compass and YKS, Safety Research & Strategies said in a statement.
Cooper Tires also uses Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., FTS's supplier, for production of tires.
Unrelated, Yokohama is suing HZ Rubber Co for design infringment on one of their LT tires. The suit was filed in L.A. federal court last October.
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