EU hits tsunami-struck Thailand with tarrifs

[Guest Cerebus]

Link:

 

TSUNAMI-struck Thailand has been told by the European Commission that it must buy six A380 Airbus aircraft if it wants to escape the tariffs against its fishing industry.

 

While millions of Europeans are sending aid to Thailand to help its recovery, trade authorities in Brussels are demanding that Thai Airlines, its national carrier, pays £1.3 billion to buy its double-decker aircraft.

 

The demand will come as a deep embarrassment to Peter Mandelson, the trade commissioner, whose officials started the negotiation before the disaster struck Thailand - killing tens of thousands of people and damaging its economy.

 

While aid workers from across Europe are helping to rebuild Thai livelihoods, trade officials in Brussels are concluding a jets-for-prawns deal, which they had hoped to announce next month.

 

As the world’s largest producer of prawns, Thailand has become so efficient that its wares are half the price of those caught by Norway, the main producer of prawns for the EU.

 

To ensure the Thais cannot compete, EU officials five years ago removed its shrimp industry from the EU’s generalised system of preferential tariffs - designed to share Western wealth with developing countries by trade.

...

    Five days after the tsunami struck, the EU legislated against Thailand by slapping a new tariff designed to extinguish its booming trade in cumarin, a plant extract used in perfume.

 

    On 31 December, the EU imposed duties of €3,480 (£2,430) a tonne for Thai exports of cumarin - a move entirely designed to protect Rhodia, a French chemicals firm and the EU’s only producer of cumarin.

 

    Oxfam has attacked the tariffs, saying: "When countries are lying prostrate before us, it is criminal to continue to tax them on what they sell."

 

    Sri Lanka has already pleaded to be exempt from EU and US textiles tariffs as it tries to recover.

 

Hitting a second world country with what amounts to blackmail after they were struck by a Tsunami? It's Europe so therefore must be BRILLIANT!

[Vern Gagne 0]

Let me guess this is the fault of Bush and Halliburton?

[Guest Smues]

Of course, this is nothing compared to the evil Americans only donating 36 million $ at first in aid.

[Guest CronoT]

...and people wonder why Americans think the EU will be the worst thing since the Iron Curtain. The US gained it's political and economical clout over decades of time. Now, the EU has gained a similar amount of clout, in just a few short years. The World, say hello to the new bully in the neighborhood.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Gotta love at how any hint of power goes straight to the heads of European leaders. But the U.S. is of course the bad guy in this situation.

[Guest CronoT]

Gotta love at how any hint of power goes straight to the heads of European leaders. But the U.S. is of course the bad guy in this situation.

Nah, not the US citizenry; just the fuckheads running the administration.

[Guest sek69]

Hell, Bush is probably mad he didn't think of it first.

 

Seriously, I think this story is a bit overblown for the sake of more conservo-centric Europe bashing. Is it tasteless in terms of timing? Of course, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do in business even if the timing makes you look like a bastard. You'd think conservatives would appriciate that.

 

Let's keep two key things in mind when reading this story:

 

1. The negotiations started before the disaster hit, despite the spin being put on the story to make it look like the EU was licking their chops at the prospect of bending over stricken nations.

 

2. Thai Air was negotiation the deal before the tsunami, so obviously they had the bank to make this kind of transaction. There's probably a lot more to the story than entailed here, but the rest of the story probably won't fit in with the Eurobash theme and will be suitably ignored.

 

Besides, they could always do what Bush did with the steel tariffs and flip flop after he put them in place.

[Guest Cerebus]

And then they legislated for tariffs on cumarin AFTER the tsunami struck.

[Swift Terror 0]

Hold on, that new airplane is the shit. The Airbus (France) A380, powered by GE GP7000 engine. Bigger than the 747 baby. It will have bars, suites, possibly even a gym.

 

The Europeans (France in particular) are prouder of that airplane than they are of anything else. They claim that, because this new airliner is better than the legendary Boeing 747, it proves that Europe is not Rumsfeld's "Old Europe". Yes, a passenger airliner should certainly be front and center on the world stage.

 

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...118_airbus.html

[Guest CronoT]

Hold on, that new airplane is the shit. The Airbus (France) A380, powered by GE GP7000 engine. Bigger than the 747 baby. It will have bars, suites, possibly even a gym.

 

The Europeans (France in particular) are prouder of that airplane than they are of anything else. They claim that, because this new airliner is better than the legendary Boeing 747, it proves that Europe is not Rumsfeld's "Old Europe". Yes, a passenger airliner should certainly be front and center on the world stage.

 

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...118_airbus.html

Front and center doesn't matter shit if your economy is so in the dumper that you couldn't even keep the plane(s) in working condition.