The Justice Department, together with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), announced today the filing of a complaint against Cixi Miaojie Electrical Appliance Co. Ltd., and Changsha Jiayi Tianzhuo Trading Co. Ltd. of China, seeking mandatory recall relief for consumers under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) for Defendants’ manufacture and sale of allegedly imminently hazardous immersion water heaters.
“The Department of Justice will not allow dangerous products manufactured in China or elsewhere to flow to American consumers and expose unwitting families to the risk of serious injury or death,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “This complaint seeks the urgent recall of these products in order to protect American consumers from imminent danger.”
“The Justice Department is committed to protecting Americans from hazardous products, including deadly products made in China and imported into the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Working with the CPSC, we will hold accountable those who put hazardous products in the hands of American consumers.”
“When dangerous products threaten American families, the Commission will not hesitate to use every authority Congress has entrusted to us,” said CPSC Acting Chairman Peter Feldman. “Today’s action is the Commission’s first use of its Section 12 imminent hazard authority since 1987, underscoring our commitment to making full use of the tools Congress provided to protect consumers. I want to thank the Department of Justice for its outstanding partnership in this effort. Our collaboration has never been stronger, and together we are ensuring that those who place imminently hazardous products into the U.S. marketplace are held accountable.”
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Defendants manufactured and sold immersion water heaters to consumers in the United States under the label “Lakkzoom” and that Defendants’ immersion water heaters are imminently hazardous consumer products because the immersion heaters can overheat and catch fire within minutes when energized and either completely or partially out of water. The complaint further alleges that the CPSC received 235 fire-related reports, investigated several of those incidents involving Defendants’ immersion water heaters and that the CPSC’s testing of the heaters showed that they could catch fire within minutes in certain circumstances.
The CPSA authorizes lawsuits to be brought against manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers to require a recall of consumer products that present an imminent and unreasonable risk of death, serious illness, or severe personal injury.
The United States is represented in this action by Senior Trial Attorney James T. Nelson and Trial Attorney Jordan A. Ryan Rinear from the Enforcement Section of the Civil Division’s Enforcement & Affirmative Litigation Branch, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean M. Tepe for the District of Columbia, with the assistance of Michael Rogal, Joseph Kessler, Renee McCune and Alex Dennis of the CPSC.