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=> Kind of like Guam...

Kind of like Guam...
Posted by Jeff (Guest) jeff@attoz.com - Monday, March 1 2004, 13:07:16 (EST)
from 69.14.56.182 - d14-69-182-56.try.wideopenwest.com Commercial - Windows XP - Netscape
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...sorry to post this, but I think it's interesting. You can speak to people and ask them "Did you know that in your name (the American people/public), with your tax dollars, your government has..."

a) Invaded scores of countries illegally, supported dictators, killed millions of innocent people
b) Provided billions of dollars out of the pocket of the lower and middle classes to benefit billion dollar corporations (i.e. Corporate welfare)

...and they haven't the faintest clue, and if they do, they don't really care that much.

Is it better that there are no water treatment facilities in Mexico, but that the average citizen isn't taxed to fund illegal genocide wars and corporate billionaires?


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EU Imposes Sanctions on U.S. Goods


By RAF CASERT, Associated Press Writer

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union (news - web sites) escalated a trade dispute with the United States over export subsidies Monday by imposing sanctions on U.S. jewelry, textiles and other goods which could reach some $300 million this year and double that in 2005.




EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy insisted the sanctions would immediately be ended once Washington repeals legislation giving tax breaks to major exporters which was ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization (news - web sites) two years ago.


"The U.S. has not brought its legislation in line with WTO rules. We are therefore left with no choice but to impose countermeasures," Lamy said in a statement after the sanctions against U.S. goods kicked in early Monday.


The measures mark the first time the EU used WTO rules to impose sanctions on the United States. However, they are much less than the $4 billion the WTO has authorized and the EU is hoping its measured approach will quickly sway the U.S. Congress into changing its Foreign Sales Corporation legislation.


"The name of the game is not retaliation but compliance: countermeasures will be lifted the day the FSC is repealed," he said.


The sanctions will hit U.S. exports to Europe ranging from jewelry to steel, textiles and farm products. They will be subject to a 5 percent penalty tariff that will ratchet higher by 1 percentage point each month over the next year unless Congress acts.


Lamy was in Washington last week to discuss the way ahead and said he was "encouraged that progress can be rapidly achieved to adopt legislation repealing the FSC."


Under proposals being debated in Congress, Washington has to restructure some $5 billion in corporate tax breaks.


It is unclear how fast the issue will be solved especially since there are conflicting visions on how the new law should help U.S. companies. The sanctions will add urgency.


"We are using an instrument the WTO gives us to focus the minds of the U.S. legislator," said Lamy's spokeswoman Arancha Gonzalez. She told reporters the EU was hopeful the law could be changed, and the sanctions lifted, within "a few weeks."


Gonzalez called the EU's action "a gradual and measured approach ... to put the pressure on the system so at the end of the day, the system delivers what we really want."


There were some doubts though, the duty would be taken seriously early on since U.S. exporters are currently coasting on a weak dollar.


Sanctions hurt U.S. producers by making it more expensive for them to sell their products in Europe. But they can also backfire by pushing up prices in Europe or disrupting production if other suppliers can't be found.


Washington has twice used WTO rules to impose trade sanctions on EU goods. In a dispute over bananas, the U.S. hit European products worth $120 million a year from 1999 to 2001. A conflict over European restrictions on beef treated with growth hormones has seen the United States impose sanctions worth US$116 million a year since 1999.


In the tax dispute, the EU decided in December to impose tariffs from March 1. That means U.S. companies will have to pay an estimated $16.6 million in March, rising to $46.4 million by December for a total of $315 million in additional duties by the end of the year.



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