Some Chinese drywall manufacturers may have a simple strategy for fighting lawsuits filed against them over the defective material – they may simply not respond.

There are a number of options attorneys are considering should Chinese drywall manufacturers ignore lawsuits filed here, the Associated Press said.  These include filing claims against U.S. investment bankers who financed the Chinese companies, and seizing ships that brought the drywall to U.S. ports.  One attorney interviewed by the Associated Press said such moves could be a way of  “getting the missing parties to the table.”  Another attorney told the Associated Press that considering the billions of dollars at stake, a way would be found to make Chinese manufacturers responsive.

We reported last week that Judge Eldon E. Fallon, who is presiding over the consolidated Chinese drywall  litigation, hit Chinese drywall manufacturer Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd. with a default judgment in favor of plaintiffs after it failed to respond to a class action lawsuit filed against it.  Taishan is also known as Taian Taishan Plasterboard and Shandong Taihe Dongxin Co. Ltd.. The firm is controlled by the Beijing New Building Materials Public Limited Co. (BNBM), a state-owned entity under control of the Chinese government.

According to the Associated Press, plaintiffs’ attorneys are concerned other Chinese manufacturers will ignore lawsuits and judgments as well.  They point out that Chinese firms have done so in other cases involving toxic toys, tainted heparin and contaminated foods.  Suing firms in international courts is time consuming an expensive, and civil  judgments rendered in U.S. courts are not enforced in China, the Associated Press said.

The Chinese drywall debacle has prompted some lawmakers and consumer advocates to push for remedies that would make foreign companies more accountable in U.S. product liability cases. The Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate earlier this year, would, among other things, require foreign manufacturers to agree to be held accountable by U.S. courts.