U.S. fines Takata for not cooperating on defective air bag probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is fining air bag maker Takata Corp $14,000 per day for failing to cooperate fully with the government investigation into the company's defective airbags, the U.S. transportation secretary said on Friday.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued two orders late last year requiring Takata to provide documentation and other material relating to the agency's investigation of defective air bags made by Takata.

"Takata has not fully cooperated with the investigation," Fox said in a statement.

"Safety is a shared responsibility and Takata's failure to fully cooperate with our investigation is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," he added. "For each day that Takata fails to fully cooperate with our demands, we will hit them with another fine." 

The NHTSA has said at least 7.8 million cars are potentially affected by defective air bags made by Takata.

The agency is trying to determine whether Takata air bag inflators made between 2000 and 2007 were improperly sealed. Bags inflating with too much force potentially could spray metal shrapnel at occupants. They have been linked to four deaths and resulted in several lawsuits.

The NHTSA has urged owners of certain Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Corp Ltd, Mazda Motor Corp, BMW AG, Nissan Motor Co Ltd, Mitsubishi Motors Corp, Subaru Co Ltd, Chrysler, Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co vehicles to replace the air bags as soon as possible.

More than 16 million vehicles globally have been recalled since 2008 because of defective Takata air bags.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Susan Heavey)