This week, the American Association for Justice (AAJ) revealed that eighty-three percent (312) of the 377 recalls announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in 2009 were from foreign manufacturers. This follows CPSC data from 2008, showing 84% (329) of 392 total recalls were from foreign manufacturers for the year.
With so many foreign products being recalled for safety in the U.S., we need to make sure foreign manufacturers are held accountable for their products’ safety. This week, the U.S. House introduced the bipartisan Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act (H. R. 4678), legislation that would make it easier for U.S. consumers to hold foreign manufacturers of defective products accountable in our court system.
Currently, foreign manufacturers are able to skirt the law and export billions of dollars of products to the U.S. without facing the same legal accountability for product defects that U.S. manufacturers face, even when their products injure or kill Americans. At this time, bringing a case against a foreign manufacturer requires serving legal notice on the company in their country. This often means translating the papers into the language of the native country and tracking down the companies’ foreign address, adding time and thousands of dollars in expense to the legal process.
The Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act does several things:
- Requires manufacturers to have an “agent” located in at least one state where the company does business that would accept service of process for civil and regulatory claims.
- Companies would consent to state and federal jurisdiction, holding foreign manufacturers accountable to those judicial standards.
- The legislation covers products regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), such as children’s toys; the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including prescription drugs and medical devices; and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), like pesticides.
One example of foreign manufacturers escaping accountability involves Taishan Gypsum, a Chinese manufacturer of drywall. Currently, Taishan is being held in default in U.S. District Court in New Orleans for failing to respond to a lawsuit involving their Chinese drywall that emits a sulfuric gas and corrodes copper wires and appliances.
Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL).
2 Comments
Mike Bryant
Crappy materials and low income wages come at a price to the consumer. It's just junk and unless something is done they will remain outside the reach of our justice system. It's important that this legislation be done to protect people.
Gerd Schmitt
I understand the limited options that we have.the unorthodox methods that may need to be applied to
get the attention of China is to reduce interest payments to China. Perhaps it could stimulate their interest in getting this matter resolved.
They are the only ones that could enforce manufacturers in their country to be responsible for the manufacture of products. Yes, we can ban import from certain sources, but that would not pay the bills for the damage they have caused.
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