Brussels gives US notice of $1bn trade war

[BuckeFushe]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1078528,00.html

<snip>
Transatlantic trade relations sank to a new low last night after Brussels gave Washington until March 1 to scrap an illegal multi-billion dollar tax-break scheme or face sanctions worth $1bn (£600m) in the next two years.
Signalling that its patience with the US on the issue was exhausted, the European Commission approved a formal proposal to automatically trigger the sanctions unless the scheme - known as the foreign sales corporation act - is abolished by that deadline.

The offending legislation, which has already been ruled illegal by the World Trade Organisation, offers tax concessions to the tune of about $4bn a year to big American exporters such as Boeing, Microsoft and Caterpillar.

Brussels has already won the right from the WTO to impose $4bn in sanctions on the US but said yesterday it had opted for a phased approach in order to avoid poisoning the EU-US trading relationship, which is worth about $1bn a day.

<snip>

[E_Zapata]

1. No problem.........

The US taxpayer is all geared to pay out the $4 bn in sanctions in exchange for ensuring that the american corporate interests get to keep their tax incentive.

[La_Serpiente]

2. this is the problem with globalization and the Iraq War

Now that we have globalization, we cannot be doing rash things like going to war against Iraq. If we invade North Korea and a lot of countries in Asia are pissed off, they could expel all foreign business from the region.

The US cannot be doing rash things and cannot be taking advantage of other countries. We must learn to live in a global environment.

[mediaman007]

3. Free Trade My Ass...

So much for my country being the beacon of free enterprise. The Federal government bends over backwards to enable corporations to develop monopolies. The states fight each other to steal corporations, all the time sticking the tax payers with the bills.

These people hide behind free enterprise and open markets. Let them compete with out welfare I say. If these corporate geniuses can't make the company grow without government handouts let them go under.

Isn't it ironic that the companies want to break the unions, pay pauper's wages and bitch about the token money that welfare recipients get.

Words can't describe the the bitterness I feel toward private industries and how much they pay to government through contributions, just to tip the playing field.

[BuckeFushe]

5. I said last night regarding the loss of manufacturing jobs here

One of these days one of our trading partners is going to get pissed off enough to prevent us from aquiring goods necessary for our economy to survive, and since we outsource everything, we're at their mercy. We will not be defeated by force, we will be defeated by the world's bean counters and the politicians who control them.

[GRClarkesq]

4. blah blah blah

Both the US and the EU members ignore the WTO when it suits their purposes and make noises about WTO sanctions on someone else the next day.

[ProudGerman]

6. Yeah, we don't live in a corporate oligarchy

We just give huge tax breaks to companies that post profit margins containing 9 zeros or more.

Still scratching my head over their need for these tax breaks.

[BuckeFushe]

7. So they can post profits with 8 zeros instead of 7

N/T

[Gman]

8. $4 billion?? BFD... that's what? 3 weeks in Iraq

Chump change to the Bushies.

[leesa]

9. Didn't Bush publish a document, their administrative plan, in 2002 which

stated that they would reserve the right to pre-emptively attack anyone imposing trade sanctions on the US? It was the published PNAC where they threatened every country on the planet.

[BuckeFushe]

10. Quote and PNAC link

"These are the last victims of communism, fascism and nationalism," Jackson says. "They imagine themselves part of Europe, and allies of the United States. Not all of them will necessarily make it -- but we will be judged by how many of them we can save."

http://www.newamericancentury.org/europe-20030804.htm

"The Bush Doctrine seeks to eliminate these weapons and the dictatorial regimes that would use them. The president also seeks to challenge tyranny in general. "No nation is exempt," the president said, from the "true and unchanging" American principles of liberty and justice. Moreover, our role with respect to those principles will not be passive. According to the president, "America will take the side of brave men and women who advocate these values around the world, including the Islamic world," and will do so because it is the only lasting way to build "a just and peaceful world beyond the war on terror." This is now a strategic imperative as much as a moral one."