Recalls of Chinese Auto Parts Are a Mounting Concern

By CHRISTOPHER JENSEN

Flaws in auto parts produced in China are raising concerns among safety advocates. Above, a transmission parts producer in Nanchang. (Adrian Bradshaw/European Pressphoto Agency) Child restraints that may come apart in an impact. Fuses that could catch fire when overloaded.

Tires susceptible to tread separation. Those are some of the dangers American consumers face as Chinese manufacturers increase the number of automotive parts they are sending to the United States, according to consumer and safety

advocates. They parallel problems with some other products from China ranging from medicine to pet food to children’s toys.

The complexity of today’s cars creates many possibilities for problems with imported parts: tire valves that break and let air escape; replacement window glass that does not meet the standards for tempered glass; high-intensity discharge headlight conversions that don’t meet federal standards.

There are so many automotive products coming in from China that American safety officials can’t keep track of them, said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. Mr. Ditlow has been researching recalls of Chinese auto parts in the National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration’s records. Those recalls are now posted on the safety center’s Web site.

Mr. Ditlow said his review convinces him that too many Chinese companies are unfamiliar with — or don’t care about — safety standards in the United States and thus don’t meet them. For consumers, that means automotive equipment made in China is less likely to comply with safety standards than the same product made in the United States, Mr. Ditlow said.

"The companies in North America know that process," he said. Sean Kane is the director of Safety Research & Strategies, a consulting firm. He worried that

consumers think there is more government oversight of automotive equipment coming from China than actually exists.

Dan Smith, associate administrator for enforcement at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says one factor causing these problems is the speed at which China has industrialized. "It is kind of like their Industrial Revolution happened in a quarter of the time ours did," he said.

"Therefore I think quality control measures need to be emphasized to the extreme in their products." Mr. Smith said some Chinese manufacturers clearly want to comply with federal safety regulations. They just need to understand what is required. The issue becomes more complicated because Chinese companies in China are eagerly looking for distributors.

Sometimes those can be very small companies, Mr. Kane said. "Anybody can be an importer." One recall found by Mr. Ditlow involved kits that would make it possible for regular headlights to be converted to the more powerful high-intensity discharge lights. The seller told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration he sold them on eBay (or with the help of friends) and kept his inventory in a closet.

The problem is that under federal law the importer is responsible for making sure the product is safe. But first-time importers may not know about safety regulations, which include the requirement to promptly report problems to the government.

"Your safety hinges on the importer," Mr. Kane said. In addition, small companies may not have the money to handle a recall if a product is defective. "It is a challenge frankly in terms of some of the smaller-scale importers," Mr. Smith said. That was an issue for Foreign Tire Sales of Union, N.J., which describes itself as a small, family-owned business with about a dozen full-time employees.

In 2007 the tire importer notified the safety agency that Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company Ltd. had changed the construction of some light-truck tires, which the importer contended would increase the chances of a tread separation and tire failure.

Foreign Tire Sales also told the safety administration that it lacked the money to recall defective tires — that such a recall would force it to file for bankruptcy. The agency replied that a lack of funds was not an excuse.

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