LA Times,"Recall of Imported Tires is Sought"

         Federal regulators are asking the New Jersey company, Foreign Tire, to recall as many as 450,000 imported tires because the product was blamed for an accident that killed two people last year. Foreign Tire conceded that the tires were prone to tread separation and should be pulled off the road. But a formal recall could force the tiny company to give consumers replacement tires or refunds. The cost could easily reach $50 million and drive Foreign Tire into bankruptcy, said Lawrence Lavigne, the firm's attorney.
         After a May 2006 accident in New Mexico involving an ambulance equipped with Hangzhou Zhongce-produced tires, Foreign Tire said that tests were conducted on other tires made by the Chinese company, Hangzhou Zhongce, and that tread separations were found.
         In September, Foreign Tire said, Hangzhou Zhongce "finally admitted that it had unilaterally decided" to leave out a component known as a gum strip that helps bond the tread to the tire, making it more likely that the tread would separate.

Learn more about tire failure and tread separation lawsuits.