Interpretation ID: aiam5236

Mr. Richard G. Meier Deputy Assistant Office of the U.S. Trade Representative 600 17th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20506; Mr. Richard G. Meier Deputy Assistant Office of the U.S. Trade Representative 600 17th Street
N.W. Washington
DC 20506;

Dear Mr. Meier: This letter follows up on the July 23, 1993, meeting i which you and Ms. Suzanne Troje discussed with representatives of this agency concerns of the Mexican Government that tires produced in Mexico for sale in the U.S. must be labeled in English and tested in Texas. We would like to explain our regulations and correct an apparent misimpression of the Mexican government. Tires manufactured for sale in the United States must be labeled with safety and consumer information that is required by statute (the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act) and by regulation. The regulations require that the information be in English. There is no available exception to the English labeling requirement for the safety information, but there is an exception to the consumer information requirement of our uniform tire quality grading standards (UTQGS, copy enclosed). The UTQGS do not apply to 'limited production tires,' as defined in that standard. This exception could provide the basis for a Mexican tire manufacturer to import a limited number of tires into this country to assess the market. However, the annual importation of that tire into the U.S. must not exceed 15,000 tires. The UTQGS do not require that manufacturers test their tires at this agency's test track at San Angelo, Texas. Manufacturers may test their tires where they choose, and may even choose not to test their products at all. However, the specification in the UTQGS regulations that testing is done at San Angelo means that NHTSA must use that track in any compliance testing of tires. In order to protect themselves against the possibility that the agency will find a noncompliance based on testing at San Angelo and initiate an enforcement action, it would be prudent for tire manufacturers to base their assigned grades on their own testing at San Angelo or on some substitute means whose results demonstrably correlate with the results of testing at San Angelo. We hope this information is helpful. For your information, I have attached a general information sheet discussing NHTSA's requirements for new manufacturers. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, John Womack Acting Chief Counsel Enclosure;