Uniroyal and Goodrich merged to prevent a hostile takeover by Goodyear, then Michelin = bought them anyway. This was over ten years ago. Continental = bought General, Pirelli bought Armstrong, Bridgestone bought Firestone, and = Yokohama bought Mohawk. Sumitomo bought Dunlop and Cooper, = and now has a "joint venture" with Goodyear. There really are no American tire technologies left, but Goodyear, and how long with = they last. In reality Michelin taught the others how to make = tires, in today's world.

This gave those companies manufacturing capacity here. Michelin then built a = plant in Greenville, SC and it runs most Michelins sold in the = US. The rubber plantations are all in the tropics, rubber is a = raw material that is shipped all over the world. There is no = difference in the rubber per se, the difference is in the technology. = Don't think you must have a tire made in France to get a good one.