By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
AP Political Writer
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Wednesday that China will feel repercussions from its lower product safety inspection standards and he would consider a larger federal role in ensuring foreign products are safe.
"I'm afraid China's relative lack of safety inspection and care is going to have repercussions far broader than they might have expected as a nation and I hope that they put in the kinds of processes and procedures to protect the public -- our public and their public," Romney said after a campaign event.
The remarks come the day after Mattel Inc. announced it is recalling 9 million Chinese-made toys because of problems with lead paint and magnets that fall off. It is the latest in a string of problems with Chinese-made products, including toys, tires, tainted toothpaste and pet food.
"We have to make sure the products we receive here are safe and I believe that the market is going to respond vehemently against any company or any country that sells products that are not safe," Romney said.
He added that private companies have largely been responsible for ensuring the safety of products they import, but that system might need changes.
"It would mark a pretty significant departure from our past. Usually we've let the private sector make those assessments and there have been failures by some great companies, and so we'll have to decide is there something that needs to be changed," Romney said.
Romney was making his 13th visit to Florida, which holds its primary Jan. 29, ahead of all other states except Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
He answered questions on subjects like immigration and the war in Iraq from a crowd of about 275 people in an "Ask Mitt Anything" event.
