Political leanings

[Tomcat]

(sev7en @ May 13 2009,19:19) why normal people dislike americans in general.

Come on , even you dont believe that.

What the fuck is a normal person. He dont exist , like the Urban Spaceman.

Personally i love GW, i was hoping he would declare war on Iran or N Korea so i could make a second fortune after frittering away the first one.

( I notice that the RWLs are catching the Moderates in the header poll, who are those guys )

[alan1chef]

My observations about the cost of goods in Australia is not from some one-time visit to David Jones. Sure, you can go to K Mart and get cheaper goods, although I could not find anything that I liked there. I did end up buying a pair for 25$, but they fell apart in 3 months.

Sorry to contradict you, but I was there long before the FTA was enacted and I was there after the FTA was signed.

Back in 2004, I started exporting US made candles to Australia, prior to the enactment of the FTA. I had been looking for opportunities there since my first visit back in 1991. My nephew, who lives outside of Sydney, started a distribution company and we went to trade shows in Sydney, Melbournne and Brisbane. We also shopped for locally made products but found them lacking in quality, which had not changed in 10 years, and similar to the Chinese made candles that at that time were the only ones that were being imported into Australia, due to the high tariffs on imported goods pre-FTA. When the FTA was enacted, several other US made candle lines showed up at the trade shows. By the time I left Australia, at the end of 2005, all of the others had given up. Australia is not that large of a market with a population the size of New York state and the income level of North Carolina. The FTA allowed competition into the market and the result was that the Australian made candles improved 100% in quality and the Chinese made ones got cheaper. The FTA forced Aussie manufacturers to improve the quality of their products in order to compete with imported quality, and, without tariffs, the Chinese products got cheaper. Is that conclusive enough for you?

Since 2005, according to my family there, lots of products have gotten better and some have gotten cheaper. Maybe YOU were happier when the malls closed at 5pm weekdays, except market day on Thursday and when everything closed on Sundays. However, most everyone I've met there is much happier now that stores are open on Sundays and open later during the weekdays. Their only complaint is that the petrol stations there jack the price up and down like a yoyo depending on the day of the week.

Tariffs are never a good thing in the long run. Capitalism works best when there are no restrictions. The implication that the US is imperialist and that capitalism enslaves poor third world countries is absurd and without evidence. It is the power hungry dictators who rule those third world countries and who enslave their own populace that are the problem. I am tired of leftist propaganda that makes claim after claim without substantiation. Foreign governments should stop using the US as a scapegoat for their own internally caused issues.

[sev7en]

That would be you, alan the chef, manarak, blondhavoc and blueballs.
I dont understand.. youa re a really nice guy, how can you be so rightwing, tc?

[PanzerPorn]

(sev7en @ May 13 2009,19:19) Yup, like someone said, you are exactly the reason why normal people dislike americans in general.

Feeling "normal" today sev7en?

I just can't stand the fashionable trend of all the euro trash with no culture or education hating the Us and blaming that country for all the troubles in the world.

Give a nice european country with a millenary history like Sweden or Italy ( ) the same power and see if they can behave in a accetable way worldwide.

There is much unjustified hatred in the western world for the US but intellectual hatred should be done by intellectuals.

There are more "evil" countries to blame in the world ( you name them) and Australia beats Us to the title of the most obese nation!!!!!!!!!

[Stewart]

Yup, like someone said, you are exactly the reason why normal people dislike americans in general.

Another soundbite throwaway line.

I consider myself totally normal, and I certainly don't "dislike americans in general".

I dislike some americans and like others......just like pretty much every other nationality I have ever met, including Sweden

[Stewart]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8048774.stm

Obama U-turn on abuse photographs
Photos purporting to show prisoner abuse in Iraq were published in 2004
US President Barack Obama has changed his mind and will now attempt to block the publication of photographs showing the abuse of prisoners by US soldiers.
The US government had previously said it would not fight a court ruling ordering the release of the pictures.
Mr Obama now believes the release of the photos would make the job of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan more difficult, White House officials said.



Ooops.....sounds like something Donald Rumsfeld or GW Bush would have done!!

[alan1chef]

President Obama is a smart guy...he's not afraid to do the right thing...that's what I like about him. Unlike President Carter...who was a wimp in a cardigan; would have made a great Secretary of State...but too wimpy to be a President.

[manarak]

It isn't the photos; it is the acts themselves that put US troops in danger. The abuse is widely known among Iraqis, and those inclined to act don't need photographic evidence as justification.

Hmm. Stewart's link is interesting especially the comments.

One comment is particularly good:

It isn't the photos; it is the acts themselves that put US troops in danger. The abuse is widely known among Iraqis, and those inclined to act don't need photographic evidence as justification.

This makes complete sense.
Islamist propaganda doesn't need these pics to portray americans as baby-eaters.

So there is no link between the photos and the security of US-soldiers. I think the measure is more aimed at western media.

This comment is interesting too:

covering up war crimes, refusing to prosecute them, promoting those associated with them, and suppressing evidence of them are themselves violations of Geneva and the UN Convention.

[Torurot]

The USA "talks" "free" trade, but at least in the Agricultural sectors is more protectionist than those it has "free" trade agreements with (Australia for e.g.). Heard of corporate farm subsidies? The USA govt, like Fox (the spin begins here) is extremely hypocritical.

[Snick]

Yes, but compared to the Europeans we're push overs

The whole reason for trade agreements, like Doha, is EVERYONE has their pet industries they like to protect. But the biggest holdout on protecting farm subsidies is Europe not USA.

[pacman]

What's happened to alan1chef? He sounds almost reasonable, I knew there was hope...      

All this talk of Trade Agreements & the WTO gives me cause to reflect on the influence of US culture on the West & how its decline mirrors that of the decline in US support around the globe.

The invasion of all things American started well before I was born. Growing up in a more innocent time to Hollywood movies, Elvis Presley, the Mickey Mouse Club, there was nothing negative one could say about such a place.

Cops & robbers, the good guys always won, cowboys & Indians, only the good Indians found redemption. And the bad guys wore black hats, the good guys wore white & their womenfolk were all strong & stedfast.

And the superheroes were the ultimate metaphor for a country that shone like a proud beacon for the rest of the world to admire.

Where did it all go wrong?

From the My Lai massacre to Abu Graib, every negative event was reported & the bad news was compounded by the fact that this was AMERICA, not some dirty 3rd world place where such behaviour might be expected.

Now we have black rappers going on about their bitches & hos, Wall Street Banksters destroying the economic foundation of the entire world & a clueless government supplying them with the means to finish the job.

The government should arrest the bankers but the rappers? Protected by free speech. A quote from 2500 years ago sums it up more eloquently than I can put it myself - "Civilisations fail when the music turns bad".

It is impossible to think that the "music" that is pumped into the average teenagers brain today could possibly get any worse. Listen to the lyrics & you will understand.

America stands on the precipice, what happens in the next few years will decide their fate. We all watch with bated breath as to whether or not they can save the US dollar, avoid another 9/11 attack, keep their president alive, any of a number of things would be a catastrophe.

A new world order is much closer than most realise. Where is the Lone Ranger when you need him?

[manarak]

(Snick @ May 14 2009,08:45) Yes, but compared to the Europeans we're push overs  

The whole reason for trade agreements, like Doha, is EVERYONE has their pet industries they like to protect. But the biggest holdout on protecting farm subsidies is Europe not USA.

Here is how free trade agreements work (simplified for the sake of demonstration):

Country A is rich and produces computers, cars, etc. but has also a big agrosector.

Country B is poor, but produces a surplus of agro-products as well as some textiles.


The free trade agreement will allow free trade of cars and computers, impose either quotas or tariffs on textiles and ban agro-products.
So that the poor country will not be able to sell its agro-surplus. yes.


but not enough of not letting them agro-products in, no, the rich country wants to sell their agroproducts too.


Unfortunately for the rich country, the world market price is at 80 when the product cost in the rich country is at 100.
The poor country is able to produce at 75.

What happens? Does the best supplier get the market?
No, the rich country subsidizes its agro-exports to beat the poor country's price.


That's how international trade works.
Another reason to  


Western countries are all in favor of free trade and capitalism, except when other countries produce cheaper.

[alan1chef]

Where do you get your information? You make it up? Here is some information regarding the FTA between Chile and the United States from the US Dept. of Commerce:

Tariff Elimination:
Under the U.S.-Chile FTA, all U.S. textile and apparel products (generally included in HS Chapters 50 through 63) entering into Chile have duty-free treatment as of the entry date of the Agreement. All footwear exported to Chile is duty duty free except HS numbers 6406.91.00 and 6406.99.00, which will be phased out in equal increments over four years and ten other HS numbers, which will be phased out in equal increments over eight years. The ten HS number are 6401.10.00, 6401.91.00, 6401.92.00, 6401.99.00, 6402.99.00, 6403.40.00, 6403.91.10, 6403.99.00, 6404.19.00, and 6406.20.00. Travel goods exported to Chile will be duty-free as of the entry date of the Agreement.

To determine when your product can enter Chile duty-free:
1) It is first necessary to obtain the appropriate HS number for your product
2) With this number it is then possible to check the Tariff Elimination Schedule for Chile, which is found in Annex 3.3 to Chapter Three of the FTA to find out at what rate the duties on your product will be reduced. The U.S.-Chile FTA tariff schedules code each line item with a letter, indicating the staging by which the current tariff for each item is reduced and ultimately eliminated. The schedules also note the base rate of customs duty, which is used to determine the starting point and interim rate at each stage of reduction for an item.

All footwear from Chile is duty-free except for 17 rubber/fabric and plastic/protective footwear items. Duties on these 17 items will be phased out over a ten year period. The 17 rubber/fabric and plastic/protective footwear items are: 6401.10.00, 6401.91.00, 6401.92.90, 6401.99.30, 6401.99.60, 6401.99.90, 6402.30.50, 6402.30.70, 6402.30.80, 6402.91.50, 6402.91.80, 6402.91.90, 6402.99.20, 6402.99.80, 6402.99.90, 6404.11.90, 6404.19.20.

All non-textile travel goods from Chile originally facing duties:
1) 5% or under are duty-free immediately
2) 5-10% will be phased out in equal increments over 4 years
3) 15% and above will be phased out in equal increments over 8 years

It certainly looks like textiles exported from Chile to the US are duty free, so I don't understand your assertion that poorer countries are at a disadvantage under these agreements. Furthermore, Australia produces lamb at a much cheaper cost than the US and when the FTA went into effect, imports of lamb into the US increased.

I understand that you are trying to paint the US as the bad guy...but it's not working because it's not true.

[alan1chef]

Pacman....when it comes to economics...I am a firm believer in capitalism...without restraints. Capitalism works best when there are no restraints of trade.

However...when it comes to politics...I will probably always agree to disagree.

[manarak]

(alan1chef @ May 14 2009,14:04) Where do you get your information? You make it up? Here is some information regarding the FTA between Chile and the United States from the US Dept. of Commerce:

Tariff Elimination:
Under the U.S.-Chile FTA, all U.S. textile and apparel products (generally included in HS Chapters 50 through 63) entering into Chile have duty-free treatment as of the entry date of the Agreement. All footwear exported to Chile is duty duty free except HS numbers 6406.91.00 and 6406.99.00, which will be phased out in equal increments over four years and ten other HS numbers, which will be phased out in equal increments over eight years. The ten HS number are 6401.10.00, 6401.91.00, 6401.92.00, 6401.99.00, 6402.99.00, 6403.40.00, 6403.91.10, 6403.99.00, 6404.19.00, and 6406.20.00. Travel goods exported to Chile will be duty-free as of the entry date of the Agreement.

To determine when your product can enter Chile duty-free:
1) It is first necessary to obtain the appropriate HS number for your product
2) With this number it is then possible to check the Tariff Elimination Schedule for Chile, which is found in Annex 3.3 to Chapter Three of the FTA to find out at what rate the duties on your product will be reduced. The U.S.-Chile FTA tariff schedules code each line item with a letter, indicating the staging by which the current tariff for each item is reduced and ultimately eliminated. The schedules also note the base rate of customs duty, which is used to determine the starting point and interim rate at each stage of reduction for an item.

All footwear from Chile is duty-free except for 17 rubber/fabric and plastic/protective footwear items. Duties on these 17 items will be phased out over a ten year period. The 17 rubber/fabric and plastic/protective footwear items are: 6401.10.00, 6401.91.00, 6401.92.90, 6401.99.30, 6401.99.60, 6401.99.90, 6402.30.50, 6402.30.70, 6402.30.80, 6402.91.50, 6402.91.80, 6402.91.90, 6402.99.20, 6402.99.80, 6402.99.90, 6404.11.90, 6404.19.20.

All non-textile travel goods from Chile originally facing duties:
1) 5% or under are duty-free immediately
2) 5-10% will be phased out in equal increments over 4 years
3) 15% and above will be phased out in equal increments over 8 years

It certainly looks like textiles exported from Chile to the US are duty free, so I don't understand your assertion that poorer countries are at a disadvantage under these agreements. Furthermore, Australia produces lamb at a much cheaper cost than the US and when the FTA went into effect, imports of lamb into the US increased.

I understand that you are trying to paint the US as the bad guy...but it's not working because it's not true.

It is funny how 90% of your post is about US products being exported unrestricted to Chile, while for the chilean products you just say:

It certainly looks like textiles exported from Chile to the US are duty free,

The WTO says:

Since 1 January 1995, international textiles and clothing trade has been going through fundamental change under the 10-year transitional programme of the WTO's Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). Before the Agreement took effect, a large portion of textiles and clothing exports from developing countries to the industrial countries was subject to quotas under a special regime outside normal GATT rules.

and, since you are so focused on the US:

The four WTO Members which maintained import restrictions under the former MFA (Canada, EC, Norway and the US) were required to undertake this integration process and to notify to the TMB the first phase of their programmes of integration by 1 October 1994.

the US were in fact among the last countries to scrap their tariffs on textiles.


But I just wanted to explain a mechanism of how international trade works, and you took it again to a particular detail case of US-Chile trade on textiles.

If you read my post, it didn't particularly target the US, but rather the whole group of western developed countries.


Now... I have been involved in some agro-projects in emerging countries.
While setting up production according to western sanitarian and veterinary standards was no problem, the reason why the projects weren't implemented was the question:
"where are we allowed to sell our product?"

The short answer from developed countries was as always "not in our protected high-price markets".