n Mon, 04 Aug 2003 09:34:01 -0700, you wrote: > > >murdoch wrote: > >>The wheels of justice grind very slowly as to these trade disputes. > >> Has this finally been settled, or are there to be more chapters in the >> story? Even if the U.S. has stonewalled things for years, hopefully a >> fair ruling can ultimately be enforced. > > In the meantime, the local industry has been decimated, families lose > their livelihoods and competition is stifled. In >the meantime, producers in the U.S. benefit from unlimited access to the >American market preserved by the imposed trade >barrier, while their international competitors go out of business. Then, we >hear American politicians talk about the >global benefits of "free trade"--it's sheer hypocrisy.
Yes, that's a good point. I may bend over backwards to find examples where we lose ultimately, but we have been effectively getting favored treatment instead of fair treatment, and so in making so many allowances, I lose track of the damage. In addition to your own etemological complaint as to the abuse of the phrase "free trade", I'd have to add that this particularly came up, to my ear, with Reagan, and that he hijacked the terms so that they weren't applied where I thought they were more applicable, which is domestically. Thus, for example, I have always viewed the drug war (and other black market enforcements) as a pretext for the abrogation of the rights of domestic free trade. There have been times when I have thought that, as to international issues, the U.S. might have a legit complaint about free trade, but as you point out, there have also been times where it seems the U.S. just ignores, law, stonewalling everything. But I can't help but think that with so much of our economy now inter-dependent with so many other countries, that there is leverage there for others. Not the same trade dispute, but I think that if OPEC quietly allows oil to continue above $32 per gallon, this is a prime point of some aspect of leverage, though to what end I'm not sure. >> But I think this is an example of a trade dispute that ultimately we >> will lose. The protectionist Steel laws enacted by Bush when he first >> came in were, it seemed to me, different and more brazenly an open >> violation of WTO agreements. So, I wonder when the >> years-long-processes are finished, if they will stand. > > Right now, the WTO has ruled against our country concerning softwood > lumber--yet the trade barriers remain. >Politicians in Canada hope to use the trade ruling to negotiate a settlement >with the United States. But how can Canada >"force" the U. S. to live up to the terms it has previously agreed to uphold? >It's ludicrous to think that other nations >have any effective means of imposing their will to the same degree that is >true of the United States. > > Someone is probably thinking that I'm "bashing" my own country right now. > . . We don't like to hear that our conduct >can be reprehensible. We don't view ourselves as anything other than >benevolent. We're very naive that way. . . Well, I don't know, you seem to have it in mind to see the U.S. behave honorably and fairly in important international legal matters, so I think I could see that as a patriotic desire. >> >> Yes, I'd like to learn more, particularly if there are any disputes >> the U.S. has lost, and how the mechanics of this worked. > > This would be beneficial, I think. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for Your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at Myinks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/sO0ANB/LIdGAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
