CORPORATIONS GET DOUBLE WIN, GOODBYE TARIFFS, NO MORE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELS

WHILE THE FEDERAL RESERVE MADE BANKS HAPPY BY RAISING INTEREST RATES, OUR CONGRESS AND OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SERVED UP TWO MORE BIG WINS FOR MEGA-CORPORATIONS.

THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION PUSHED AND, AS ALWAYS, CONGRESS AND OUR FEARLESS LEADER ALL WENT BELLY-UP.

AS THE TEA ROOM REPORTED PREVIOUSLY, CONGRESS WAS TRYING TO PACIFY SOME OF THEIR PALS BY REMOVING THOSE LABELS THAT TELL US CONSUMERS WHERE THE FOOD WE EAT COMES FROM.

WELL, THEY SNEAKED THAT ONE THROUGH AND IT'S A DONE-DEAL NOW. 

AS MICHAEL COLLINS WROTE ON MINING AWARENESS PLUS...

"Even if you don't eat meat you should be concerned.

  It will impact all food and, ultimately, almost certainly will bring radioactive food from Japan to the US because Japan's radiation in food "standard" is over 15 times more protective than the US food standard.

Furthermore, it will contribute to the depression of wages in the US farming and food processing sector.


US Food Standards Go Up in Smoke.
And Just Like That, "Free Trade" Pact Trounces US Law

Congress kills country-of-original label law with provision tucked into omnibus budget.

Congress' elimination of the rule "makes clear that trade agreements can—and do—threaten even the most favored U.S. consumer protections," said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch.

Claims that trade pacts like the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will not trump public health and environmental policies were revealed to be fiction on Tuesday after Congress, bending to the will of the World Trade Organization, killed the popular country-of-origin label (COOL) law.

The provision, tucked inside the omnibus budget agreement, repeals a law that required labels for certain packaged meats, which food safety and consumer groups have said is essential for consumer choice and animal welfare, as well as environmental and public health.

Congress successfully revoked the mandate just over one week after the WTO ruled that the U.S. could be forced to pay $1 billion annually to its NAFTA partners, which argued that the law "accorded unfavorable treatment to Canadian and Mexican livestock."

Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch division, said that consumers relied on the standard to "make informed choices about their food," and that Congress' elimination of the rule "makes clear that trade agreements can—and do—threaten even the most favored U.S. consumer protections." 

HELLO, AMERICANS, CONGRESS DOES NOT CARE IF YOU'RE PROTECTED, NOR DOES THE FDA, THE EPA, NOR THE NRC.

MAYBE JAPAN CAN JUST SHIP ALL THOSE HUGE CONTAINERS OF NUCLEAR WASTE WATER OVER HERE, MARKET IT AS "DAI'ICHI TEA" AND MAKE A KILLING, IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE, EH? 

AND WHO AMONG US JUST CAN'T WAIT TO TASTE PRODUCE FERTILIZED WITH HUMAN EXCREMENT AND URINE AND TASTE BEEF THAT IS FED CHEAP FEED WITH BITS OF TOXIC PLASTIC IN IT?
YUM, YUM, RIGHT?

WHO HASN'T WISHED THEY COULD EAT SOMEONE ELSE'S POOP, EH?
ME, I DON'T CARE TO DO SO, BUT NOW I DON'T GET A CHOICE!
DAMN YOU VERY MUCH, CONGRESS.

THIS COMES JUST IN TIME FOR CHINA TO BENEFIT AS THEY WERE RECENTLY UNDER THE GUN FOR CREATING "SUPER-BUGS" BECAUSE THEY KEEP SHOOTING THEIR LIVESTOCK WITH ANTIBIOTICS BANNED ELSEWHERE, NOT TO MENTION THOSE DELICIOUS GROWTH HORMONES WE ALREADY ENJOY WITHOUT A CHOICE NOT TO, SINCE AMERICA IS NOT ONE OF THE 160 NATIONS THAT BAN THAT CRAP.

THE SECOND SCORE FOR BIG COMPANIES?
GOODBYE TO TARIFFS ON "INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS".

REUTERS EXPLAINS:

"More than 50 members of the World Trade Organization signed an agreement on Wednesday to remove import tariffs on 201 information technology products, marking the first major global tariff-cutting deal in 19 years.

The products covered account for 10 percent of global trade and should mean consumers pay less for items such as GPS navigation systems, computers and other goods, while companies see cuts in the cost of machine tools.
The deal, signed by 53 countries including China, will remove tariffs on trade worth $1.3 trillion, which is expected to give a $190 billion boost to the world economy.

It is the first major agreement to come out of the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference under way this week in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, and was hailed as a victory for global commerce.

THIS DEFINITELY MAKES INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES HAPPY AS WELL, BUT THE REALLY BIG WINNERS HERE ARE :

~General Electric Co,

 ~Intel Corporation,

~Texas Instruments Inc,

 ~Microsoft Corp. and

~Nintendo Co.

In July, the WTO finalized the list of 201 products.

Tariffs on them will be lifted in several stages, taking effect for 65 percent of the products concerned immediately and full implementation within seven years.

New-generation semi-conductors, medical products including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines, printed circuits and satellites are all included in the deal, the WTO said.
Once in force, the agreement will update the WTO's 18-year-old Information Technology Agreement and add the new products to the list of goods covered by zero-tariff and duty-free trade." 

I FIND NOTHING THAT ADDRESSES HOW THIS WILL FLOOD THE MARKET WITH GOODS MADE IN OTHER NATIONS LIKE CHINA, INDIA, MEXICO WHICH ARE ALREADY CHEAPER THAN MANY AMERICAN-MADE PRODUCTS IN THE SAME CATEGORY.

WITH TARIFFS REMOVED, THOSE ALREADY CHEAPER GOODS CAN BE OFFERED EVEN MORE CHEAPLY.

TAKE THAT, AMERICAN MANUFACTURERS THAT HAVE NOT MOVED OVERSEAS!   

NOW WE COULD SEE THIS AS A BOON TO THOSE OF US IN THE MARKET FOR SUCH PRODUCTS, BUT THAT'S A SHORT-TERM WIN...OR SO IT SEEMS TO ME...GIVEN THAT AMERICAN MANUFACTURERS JUST WON'T BE ABLE TO COMPETE UNLESS THEY ALSO MOVE OVERSEAS IN ORDER TO PAY LOWER WAGES AND GET THOSE SWEET TAX BREAKS OTHER COMPANIES WHO HAVE BAILED OUT OF AMERICA ENJOY.

REMEMBER NAFTA?

I DO.

THERE YOU ARE, HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE CURSED WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION AND AMERICA'S CONGRESS AND POTUS.

EAT IT AND SMILE, BOYS AND GIRLS!