Airbag manufacturer Takata has to pay the US $14,000 per day for dragging its feet in cooperating with a government probe into the firm's defective airbags, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said on Friday.

Foxx said the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent Takata two orders late last year requiring the company to provide papers and other matters required by the agency's investigation.

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Takata failed to comply, the transportation secretary said.

For each day that the company refuses to comply with regulators' demands, they will be hit with another fine, Foxx added.

Safety officials earlier said nearly the safety of Takata airbags in 8 million cars could be compromised.

Investigators are trying to find out whether the inflators of Takata airbags manufactured between 2000 and 2007 were sealed properly.

They said bags inflating with so much power could spray metal parts at vehicle passengers.

So far, they have been connected to four deaths that resulted in multiple lawsuits.

Transportation regulators are accusing Takata of sending nearly 2.5 million pages of papers on safety officials without any explanation of the content.

Authorities said Takata has wasted agency resources and time, concluding in its letter that the company was neither cooperative nor forthcoming.

Takata will pay the $14,000 per day fine starting Friday, for violating two "special orders" seeking information.

Safety regulators have also asked owners of cars of certain General Motors, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Subaru, Mitsubishi and Chrysler and models to have the airbags replaced as soon as possible.

Since 2008, more than 16 million vehicles have been recalled worldwide because of flawed Takata airbags.

On Friday, Foxx also urged Congress to pass laws requiring car rental companies and used-car sellers to repair safety defects in the vehicles they sell or rent.

TagsTakata airbags, Takata, Airbag defects