You probably have diethylene glycol in your retail area or, if you provide cooling system service, in bulk in the shop. It’s a chemical used in coolant to lower the freeze point and raise the boiling point. It’s toxic to humans and it recently was discovered in toothpaste imported from China.
This comes weeks after Chinese-imported wheat gluten containing melamine, a chemical used in pesticides and plastics, made its way into the domestic pet food supply, killing and sickening dozens of cats and dogs.
Also included on the Food and Drug Administration’s watch list of Chinese imports are toy trains containing lead-based paint and fish and seafood tainted with potentially dangerous antibiotics. Late last month, China’s equivalent of the FDA, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, announced the closure of 180 Chinese food plants after discovering industrial chemicals being used to make products from candy to seafood.
There are clearly significant – even deadly – quality issues with some Chinese imports. And we can look to the aftermarket for another recent example.
Two deaths have been blamed on imported Chinese light-truck tires after the tread separated and caused failure. The tires, produced by China’s second largest tire manufacturer, were recalled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A New Jersey-based importer has been ordered by NHTSA to recall as many as 450,000 of the suspect tires it is accused of bringing into the U.S. and selling to distributors. The importer is claiming it cannot afford to recall and replace the tires. NHTSA’s response? If you import a vehicle or component, you are considered a manufacturer and it’s your responsibility that the product meets standards.
Beyond the potentially hefty trouble with NHTSA, the importer is facing lawsuits from the families of the two men who died in the accident involving the allegedly defective tires.
Where does that leave us? Offshore sourcing of parts continues to gain popularity in the heavy-duty aftermarket, and not all imported products are of inferior quality. But the New Jersey importer example shows why you better be sure that what crosses your counter doesn’t leave your business with debilitating financial and legal woes.
