China: First The Dog Food, Now The Tires

The Federal government is always fighting with the Chinese about currency rates and intellectual property piracy. The typical US citizen probably does not care about that. But, if you kill his dog and give him bad tires, he takes a great deal of notice.

According to MSNBC, the FDA found "pet food ingredients tainted with melamine, a chemical used in plastics, fertilizers and flame retardants." That problem killed a number of cats and dogs.

Chinese medical ingredients have been pointed to as the cause of about 100 deaths in Panama.

And, now it has come to light that about 450,000 tires imported from China may not have an important safety feature. According to The Wall Street Journal, the tires may be responsible for at least one fatal accident.

It would seem that the Chinese get the better of the US at almost every turn. They do own a lot of US government paper. They are a source for inexpensive goods. Much of the growth of companies like Wal-Mart (WMT) can be directly tied to their operations in China.

Perhaps it will take a set-back for some US companies in China to send the right message. A ban on certain Chinese good would almost certainly lead to retaliation.

But, who wanted to go to the Beijing Olympics anyway? The air quality is so bad, it’s like smoking five packs of cigarettes a day.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected].