China Radio International, China to Investigate Drywall Exported to the U.S., is reporting (4 April, 2320) that
China is contacting American authorities for information about its drywall exported to the United States in reaction to complaints that certain products are believed to be problematic, the country’s top quality supervisor said here Saturday.
The General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) said it was very concerned about these reports and would investigate the case to find out the cause as soon as possible. No further details were provided.
It looks as if this problem has finally reached critical media mass, requiring an official response. Where this will go from here is anyone’s guess, though the lawsuits are piling up along the US Gulf Coast where hurricane damage and subsequent building booms caught US drywall manufacturers with much more demand than they had supply, which opened the import gates to Chinese drywall from 2005-2007. The US Senate and EPA are now involved in the investigations which have, no doubt, been the impetus for the Chinese official response. Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co., Ltd. is the major company at the center of the storm. At the end of February 2009 Knauf Tianjin claimed that they didn’t have insurance to address the rapidly spreading problem and lawsuits in the US, though Knauf’s parent company, a large German multinational, is, no doubt, feeling the heat. It looks as if this will be getting a lot more public here in China now that CRI has covered the story. What this will mean for problem drywall within China is anyone’s guess, though I imagine that damage control and public relations campaigns are gearing up to full throttle on this one. Look for more Chinese domestic fallout on this one.
________
Update:
The timing of the “going public” with this story is curious. Or not. Is it coincidental that it became domestically newsworthy a few hours after the conclusion of the 2009 G-20 London summit? No, that couldn’t have had anything to do with it.
________
Update, Sunday afternoon 3:30 PM:
The China Daily is now running the story since late this morning, here.
