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Thread: the tangled web we weave ... return of Protectionism

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default the tangled web we weave ... return of Protectionism

    (snip)Fishy import plan risks trade war
    Vietnam's catfish under siege from farm industry

    a cheap variety that's usurping the humble catfish's place on Americans' tables and threatening their livelihoods.

    After years of arguing that the Vietnamese fish isn't catfish - and winning a federal law saying as much - the U.S. farmers are now trying to have it both ways. Under their latest lobbying strategy, they want the Vietnamese imports considered as catfish so that they will be covered by a new inspections regime the farmers pushed through Congress last year.

    The move - an example of how influential industries work their will on Congress - could block imports of the Vietnamese fish for years and risks a broader trade war.

    If the Obama administration signs off on the plan, the fish that's long been a staple of Southern cooking could unravel years of improving relations between the U.S. and its former enemy.

    The inspections feud is the latest in a long-running battle between a $400 million domestic farm sector that raises catfish in ponds across the Mississippi Delta and a burgeoning industry in Vietnam, where fish are raised in ponds and cages along the Mekong River.

    The U.S. industry - mostly located in Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas - has had a string of successes on Capitol Hill and in Southern legislatures.

    Along with winning frequent federal aid, it pushed a labeling law through Congress in 2002 that forced the Vietnamese fish to be sold in the United States under unfamiliar names such as pangasius, basa or tra. A year later, it won an antidumping case authorizing tariffs of up to 64 percent on the Vietnamese fish. The Southern states where most catfish farming is done now require restaurants to disclose where their fish were raised.

    Despite that, the value of Vietnamese imports jumped from $13 million in 1999 to $77 million last year, according to the Commerce Department. Over the same period, U.S. production fell from $488 million to $410 million.

    The inspections requirement could be the U.S. producers' silver bullet, stopping imports in their tracks. Applying to all catfish sold in the U.S., it would require Vietnam to establish a complicated inspection system and demonstrate that it is equivalent to U.S. inspections, a process that could take years.(snip)

    (snip)Vietnamese officials say such a move would add insult to injury. Their "catfish" industry employs an estimated 1 million people and accounts for more than 2 percent of the country's economy. Calling the inspections a backdoor tariff, the government is hinting at consequences for U.S exports to Vietnam.

    "For the U.S. to now reverse itself to prevent Vietnamese product from entering the market appears to developing nations hypocritical," Vietnam's ambassador to the U.S., Le Cong Phung, wrote in a letter to U.S. lawmakers. Such a decision, he wrote, could "significantly impact the bilateral relations between Vietnam and the United States."

    Others such as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, Montana Democrat, are getting involved out of concern that their states' interests might get caught in the crossfire. Vietnam is now the third-largest export market for U.S. beef(snip)

    from


    so who cares about Catfish ? Why should this matter at all ?

    - it raises prices for catfish for every American by shutting off the very low cost Vietnamese imports

    - it sustains a comparative handful of comparatively high paying Catfish farming jobs in a handful of southern US states, at the expense of 1 million Vietnamese jobs

    - it will lower sales volumes / profits for US Beef by cutting off exports to Vietnam (thus increasing the price of beef for every American as the beef industry must now recoup their production costs from a smaller group of customers)

    - it will set a precedent that may affect other US industries that have high trade levels with Vietnam ( such as hardwoods / furniture )

  2. #2
    God/dess Deogol's Avatar
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    Default Re: the tangled web we weave ... return of Protectionism

    It's either protect our economy or allow our standard of living to reach down to our competitors.

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    Default Re: the tangled web we weave ... return of Protectionism

    The US seems to preach free trade when it suits them. Lately, protectionism is the theme. Us Canadians have seen this picture before....over and over sadly.

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    Default Re: the tangled web we weave ... return of Protectionism

    "Protectionism" is IMHO a poor choice of naming. It's more like "Subsidising". To make local things competitive, you need to manipulate the market somehow. You can waste money propping up industries to give the illusion that they're profitable, or you can ban imports, meaning that every country except you gets to enjoy lower prices.
    Once again, the conservative, sandwich-heavy portfolio pays off for the hungry investor
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    Default Re: the tangled web we weave ... return of Protectionism

    Quote Originally Posted by person View Post
    "Protectionism" is IMHO a poor choice of naming. It's more like "Subsidising". To make local things competitive, you need to manipulate the market somehow. You can waste money propping up industries to give the illusion that they're profitable, or you can ban imports, meaning that every country except you gets to enjoy lower prices.
    Or it could mean a functional economic system without food riots...

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    Default Re: the tangled web we weave ... return of Protectionism

    Quote Originally Posted by hockeybobby View Post
    The US seems to preach free trade when it suits them. Lately, protectionism is the theme. Us Canadians have seen this picture before....over and over sadly.
    Well, if you'd quit sending your ever so addictive sports and those oh so cute players south of the border, we could stop with the protectionism!

    XOXO
    Z

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    Default Re: the tangled web we weave ... return of Protectionism

    Quote Originally Posted by Zofia View Post
    Well, if you'd quit sending your ever so addictive sports and those oh so cute players south of the border, we could stop with the protectionism!
    Curling?



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    Default Re: the tangled web we weave ... return of Protectionism

    To the extent that we have governments subsidizing production and export of goods, as well as protecting their own markets be tariffs and import controls, we still need trade protection. Some of this subsidization comes in the form of allowing their industries to exploit their workers and pollute their (and our) lands.

    Free trade, universally, is like 'turning the other cheek,' but we aren't Jesus.
    Last edited by threlayer; 07-07-2009 at 07:13 AM.
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    Customers are not entitled to grope, disrespect, or rob strippers. This is their job, not their hobby, and they all need income. Clubs are not just some erotic show for guys to view while drinking.

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    Default Re: the tangled web we weave ... return of Protectionism

    Quote Originally Posted by Zofia View Post
    Well, if you'd quit sending your ever so addictive sports and those oh so cute players south of the border, we could stop with the protectionism!

    XOXO
    Z
    We wouldn't know what else to do. We've been trading hockey sticks for hot chicks since the beaver fur days.


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