Brake Cable Manufacturer Hopes State of the Union Address Signals Protection from Unfair Chinese Competition

Woodstock, IL, January 21, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Rick Gelscheit, owner of Fox Lake, IL, based Bruin Brake Cables, listened to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address Tuesday night with particular interest when the president discussed possible measures to protect small American businesses from unfair Chinese competition in the marketplace. While the president’s words on the matter were reassuring, Gelscheit is taking a wait-and-see attitude; he’s heard that kind of rhetoric before.

“To say that competition between China and American companies isn’t fair is to state the obvious,” said Gelscheit. “They pay their workers less than American workers receive and, in many cases, such as with the emergency brake cables, they produce dangerously inferior products.”

"To say that competition between China and American companies isn't fair is to state the obvious."

Rick Gelscheit, Owner - Bruin Brake Cables, Fox Lake, IL

Bruin Brake Cables manufactures emergency brake cables for the automotive aftermarket. Their largest competitors make the cables in China and ship them to the U.S. Gelscheit’s company tests the cables they make to ensure that each cable is up to the demand of any emergency requiring use of emergency brakes. If a cable doesn’t hold steady up to 1,200 foot pounds of pressure, for 10 seconds, it is rejected.

A while back, Bruin Brake Cables began applying the same test to their competitor’s emergency brake cables with startling results – approximately 90 percent of those cables failed to pass the same test Bruin Brake Cables pass almost 100 percent of the time.

“The president said, ‘China wants to write the rules for the world’s fastest-growing region,’” Gelscheit said. “I’d say they pretty much already have.”

Bruin Brake Cables, and others, have petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to look into the problem. They’ve even sent video of the tests. Unfortunately, as with many government agencies, the process is frustratingly slow; they have yet to hear back from the NHTSA.

Bruin Brake Cables is also in communication with area representatives Congressman Bob Dold (R-IL) and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL).  Gelscheit has offered a brake-cable challenge to the Illinois members of Congress: bring in emergency brake cables from area stores and I’ll test them for you when you arrive. “That way they’ll see for themselves,” said Gelscheit.