House votes to repeal country-of-origin labeling on meat

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans voted Wednesday to repeal a law requiring country-of-origin labels on packages of meat — a move to avoid costly trade retaliation from Canada and Mexico.

The World Trade Organization ruled against the law last month, saying the labels that say where animals were born, raised and slaughtered are discriminatory against the two U.S. border countries. Canada and Mexico have said they will now ask the WTO for permission to impose billions of dollars in tariffs on U.S. goods.

The House voted 300-131 to repeal the law for beef, pork and poultry.

The current labels tell consumers what countries the meat is from: for example, "born in Canada, raised and slaughtered in the United States" or "born, raised and slaughtered in the United States."

FULL story at link.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/787fb95bd0c14213845919e30b1f6f01/congress-considering-repeal-meat-labeling-law

---

TTP is NAFTA on steroids!

[840high]

1. Good thing I rarely eat meat.

[vkkv]

2. Bastards of big business - ALL OF THEM! (n/t)

[AngryDem001]

3. Hey Congress!!

This is for you!!

[historylovr]

9. I was trying to think of a reply, but yours sums it up nicely.

Maybe add an extra helping of that to the WTO.

[AngryDem001]

15. Useless corporate lapdogs.

USELESS!!

[msongs]

4. big win for all you TPP and TIPA lovers out there. up next, no ingredients labeling? might hurt the

food corporations feelings and sales

[Recursion]

18. GATT protected the law for 13 years. Without it, Canada could have raised the tariff immediately

We lost this case, and I think the decision was a bad one, but without GATT Canada could have just raised the tariffs back in 2002 when the law first passed.

[The Green Manalishi]

44. Simple:

We let every nation know that we will tariff EVERYTHING from them at the highest rate they tariff ANYTHING from us.

And get the hell out of every trade agreement unilaterally, now.

[aggiesal]

5. Welcome to the world of Corporate rule ...

Expect more of this nonsense with the TPP.

Why is the WTO telling us what laws we can pass?
What sovereignty does the WTO have?

[Recursion]

21. Huh? Our free trade agreement protected our law for 13 years.

COOL was passed in 2002. Without GATT and NAFTA Canada could have raised tariffs in retaliation immediately; as it was they had to go through several drawn-out court cases to impose the tariffs. We're still not in any way "forced" to change the law; the House just decided it wasn't worth the increased tariffs. Without trade deals, other countries can try to influence US policy by tariffs whenever they feel like it.

[aggiesal]

30. My point is ...

Why does a court for the WTO have any authority?
What country are they sovereign to?

We can't have labeling standards? How does that affect tariffs?

[Recursion]

31. It has authority over tariffs. Without it, Canada could just raise tariffs over any law we passed

Why does a court for the WTO have any authority?
What country are they sovereign to?

Because the signatories learned from the tariff wars of the 1970s and 1980s that it's very painful to deal with trade the old way of unilateral tariff hikes whenever another country did something we didn't like.

We can't have labeling standards?

We can (and do), but they can't cost more for Canadian and Mexican farmers to adhere to than it costs American farmers (there was a whole raft of record-keeping requirements that were part of the COOL regulations). I still think this was a bad decision, but that's what happens in arbitration some times.

Before GATT and NAFTA, if we passed a labeling law Canada didn't like, Canada would immediately raise tariffs to pressure Congress to undo the law. Now they have to file a huge and lengthy lawsuit to do that, and they didn't get close to everything they wanted in it.

[jeff47]

34. Free trade is not an end onto itself.

Canada raises tariffs, the US raises tariffs in response. The countries either start a trade war, or return to sanity.

Free trade is not an end onto itself. The point of free trade is free trade is supposed to supply benefits to society. If maintaining free trade costs too many benefits, then we should not maintain it.

[Recursion]

35. And then we're back in the 1970s, which this whole quagmire grew out of as a response

Free trade is not an end onto itself.

I agree, but it's become such an integrated part of the world economy that disruptions to it could be catastrophic.

[jeff47]

36. MAD isn't just for nukes.

If Canada wants a trade war, we can oblige them.

"But trade disruption!!!"
We've already seen 50% currency fluctuations with Canada over a relatively short time. Traders already have to deal with massive price changes, even without tariffs. They'll be able to handle it with tariffs.

"It's expensive to 'sue' at the WTO!!"
It's less expensive than a trade war. And there's no penalty for not getting what you ask for at the WTO.

[The Green Manalishi]

45. agreed

If anybody wants to start a trade war with us, hurt them worse.

We should write it into the Constitution that no agreement with any other nation whatsoever may enforce or prohibit any action within this country.

[SoapBox]

6. Get your Pink Slime.

Oops, sorry.

Meant Soylent Green.

[jmowreader]

10. Soylent Green is exempt from COOL legislation as it is supposedly made of plankton

The Soylent Green that is made out of people is certainly of US origin as I believe it to be illegal to transport dead bodies across a national border so they can be eaten.

[Recursion]

17. Pink slime is actually a big part of that: how do you track the country of origin of slime?

I just wrote an OP for anybody interested in the legal history here.

[PSPS]

7. "The World Trade Organization ruled against the law"

The World Trade Organization ruled against the law last month, saying the labels that say where animals were born, raised and slaughtered are discriminatory against the two U.S. border countries. Canada and Mexico have said they will now ask the WTO for permission to impose billions of dollars in tariffs on U.S. goods.

An unelected corporate body overrides the wishes of the citizens. Lovely, isn't it? And our Charlatan President is scrambling to cram another one of these deals down our collective throats. Bloody delightful.

[Recursion]

16. Before the WTO the other countries would just raise tariffs whenever they felt like it

Is that somehow better?

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

29. It is to me.

But then I'm not a 1%er making bank on exports.

The US being free to raise tariffs whenever it liked would be a great way to keep jobs in the country and boost domestic production to keep China and others from dumping cheap goods on us.

[The Green Manalishi]

46. Yes.

Let them know we will tariff EVERYTHING from them at the highest rate they set for anything of ours.

[HeiressofBickworth]

8. Greed, once again, greed

Can't let a little thing like food safety stand in the way of corporate profits, now, can we?

Not only Canada and Mexico, but just imagine the glee of China -- they can befoul their food products with impunity and ship them off to poison us -- and we can do nothing to protect ourselves from this.

At first I thought that it would only apply to imported meat and meat products, leaving US suppliers to put "made in USA" on their products, but thinking it over, I'm sure that it would also be considered a restraint of trade, keeping multi-national corporations away from our food dollars.

So, figuring that the only recourse would be to ask at the point-of-purchase where it came from. But, again, greed being the governing concept, in order to not lose a sale, they would lie and say it was from the US.

Fortunately, meat is something that is relatively easy to eliminate from one's diet. But if this ruling also applies to ANY food products, we're all royally fucked. Say hello to gypsum-laced baby formula from China, contaminated fish from Thailand and Mexico, who-knows-what fillers in pet foods any anything else that is available at the market. Tomatoes in winter from Chili? Ha, you won't know the answer to that! Maybe its tomatoes grown in sewer water in India.

I'm generally behind Pres. Obama, but on trade deals, I can only begin to imagine the size of the threat pointed at him that would induce him to support legislation that would be so disasterous not only to our economy, but to our health and welfare.

As long as out elected representatives (both House and Senate) are not allowed to read the TPP bill, and the few who are can't take notes, the very secretiveness of the legislative intent is subject to doubt. If nothing else, MAKE THE TPP PUBLIC SO WE CAN READ IT AND ADVISE OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES.

[tblue37]

13. People will have to have their own porch or yard gardens or else buy from the

Last edited Thu Jun 11, 2015, 03:22 PM - Edit history (1)

local farmers' market if they want to be sure of their fruits and vegetables.

[dembotoz]

23. Been to farmers markets saw good obviously not locally grown

Think some farmers markets are like Craig's list but with fewer protections

[Recursion]

19. Retailers can still label if they want to, but they have to pay for the recordkeeping

Retailers can still affix country of origin labels on meat, but they are required to verify the claims (previously the costs were paid by the packers and ranchers).

I think people are missing the point of the trade deal here: because of GATT, Canada couldn't just automatically raise their tariffs when we passed a law they didn't like. They had to take us to a WTO court and win the case and two appeals. Without the trade deal, Canada would have just raised the tariff immediately to pressure Congress to drop the law.

[JDPriestly]

11. When I was last in Mexico, in the Puebla area, maybe 16 years ago, there were open sewers.

Does Mexico still have open sewers?

Not so long ago, people who lived in Mexico risked getting various intestinal problems if they drank the water. Has Mexico cleaned all the water that the animals that are butchered and sold as meat to the US might have drunk?

I'm not keen on eating meat that may have been nourished on putrid water. Have things changed in Mexico with regard to water quality?

[tblue37]

14. In Mexico, you mustn't even eat salads unless the greens have been washed in

bottled water, not tap water.

[historylovr]

25. That's probably why the WTO ruled labeling discriminatory.

No one wants to eat meat nourished on putrid water.

Next we won't be able to legislate against selling rotted meat because that would cut in to corporate farmers' profits.

[truthisfreedom]

12. US meat suppliers must retain the right to scream

USA! USA!

[Recursion]

20. The meat industry was more or less split on this

In the US, the packers hated COOL laws (it cost them money to keep the records) and the ranchers loved them (it made their cows sell for more).

Note that retailers can still label country of origin, and packers can still advertise country of origin. And that thanks to our free trade agreement with Canada, the Canadian government had to win three WTO court cases before they could raise tariffs, whereas without GATT and NAFTA they could have just immediately raised tariffs when we passed the law.

[Sienna86]

22. Good thing I don't eat meat

I should know exactly where any meat I would purchase comes from, from the farm, city, county, state, and country.

[dembotoz]

24. OK I admit I am not in love with hrc, but to go after her for Monsanto and ignore this is stupid

[hollysmom]

26. I buy my pet food based on the country of origin. welcome China poisoning our food.

[think]

27. Everyone knows SPAM comes from Austin Minnesota. What's the problem?

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

28. I've been meaning to move more towards vegetarianism...

Republicans, doing their part to push Americans to go meatless!

[olddots]

32. gee what could go wrong ?

Further proof that the materialistic fascist self made royalty want less population to hinder their veiw .

[jeff47]

33. YAY! TRADE AGREEMENTS ARE GREAT!!! (nt)

[Recursion]

37. What do you see the trade agreement having done here?

In a world without NAFTA or GATT, Canada could have applied this tariff pressure to Congress in 2002 when the law first passed.

Because of NAFTA and GATT, they had to win three court cases, and the pressure was delayed for 13 years.

How do you see trade agreements as making things worse here?

[jeff47]

38. Because the trade agreement allowed them to overrule our laws.

Before NAFTA, Canada would have had to do things the old-fashioned way - lobby Congress. Much more expensive than those lawsuits, and much less likely to succeed.

Raise tariffs? Yeah, Canada isn't gonna do that. They mostly export raw materials like lumber to the US. So the horrible punishment of a trade war with Canada is...we pay more US loggers, miners, and the like. Boy, how painful.

Now, we get to have meat from slaughterhouses that can't even meet the incredibly lax USDA standards. More food poisoning is always good for the economy, right? A few dead people is a minor price to pay for the glory of free trade.

[Recursion]

39. No. It prevented them from doing that

What the hell are you even talking about?

Without NAFTA, they raise tariffs the second this law was passed in 2002.

[jeff47]

40. I realize it's difficult to read something that attacks your religion

But I already covered the "horrible consequences" of Canada raising tariffs.

[Recursion]

41. Yes, I know it's hard for you to confront your religion

But I'm pretty clearly right here.

NAFTA is an actual thing.

DU treats it as a symbol.

I hate that.

[jeff47]

42. I hate that NAFTA supporters can't bother to do any math or basic research.

Again, what is the terrible pain that a Canadian trade war would cause?

Higher prices on some raw materials. Canadian lumber would be more expensive. That would make new construction slightly more expensive, but construction costs are not driven by lumber - the price of other materials has a larger effect on the price of a house, and labor cost VASTLY outstrips material costs. And that's for a new house. We're still digging out from the housing bubble, so we've still got existing housing to sell.

The stuff the US exports to Canada is not easily replaced raw materials. As a result, Canada would have a harder time getting a similar-cost replacement. They're either paying a lot more to Europe, or they're paying the tariff-increased price.

Result: Canada suffers more in that trade war.

Your claim: "Canada would totally start a trade war!!!" What, are they morons? Canada's going to argue, "Do what I want, or my economy gets it!!"?

Also, you keep screaming "tariff!!!", yet utterly ignore currency variation. Not long ago, Canada's dollar was about equal to the US Dollar. Now, it's 20% lower than the US dollar - 1 USD = 1.20 Canadian dollars. That should have the same effect as a 20% tariff on US goods - US goods are 20% more expensive in Canada now, compared to when the currencies were at parity. Has trade to Canada collapsed yet? No? Golly...wonder if a tariff would cause trade to collapse.

"Free trade" is not a goal in and of itself. "Free trade" is a tool. You can get good or bad results from that tool. We should evaluate our options based on the results we actually get, instead of based on a theoretical framework where the axes on the graph don't even have units. You have yet to measure your theoretical framework against real-world results.

[lynne]

43. Time to grow your own

Thankful I've got a backyard of chickens with the price of eggs going through the roof due to Avian Flu. Guess I'll be thinking about processing them for the table, too.

Get together with a friend, buy a steer and a hog, and have them butchered locally. Only way around this mess.

[chernabog]

47. There is another way to get around this mess

Don't eat meat.