US Companies Asked to Provide Details of Recalled Tyres

As a follow up measure to the US recall of tyres made by the Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., the NHTSA has asked 14 manufacturers and importers, including the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., for information about imports received from the Chinese tyremaker. This action has been made necessary by the disclosure that companies other than Foreign Tire Sales may potentially have sold tyres manufactured to the same standard as those currently subject to recall.

In a letter sent to the NHTSA on July 2 Foreign Tire Sales stated: “Though FTS is not in possession of the information as to how many tyres others may have imported or sold in the United States, FTS understands that numerous tyres may have been imported by these other dealers using the same date codes and model numbers as FTS.”

Cooper Tire held an offtake agreement for the supply of truck tyres with Hangzhou Zhongce, and is thus likely to inform the NHTSA that it did not import light commercial vehicle tyres from the Chinese manufacturer. Goodyear, who reportedly entered into an agreement with the manufacturer in 2006, has not commented regarding their communication with the NHTSA.