Free Trade

[Guest guest]

Hey, Butch, you want a little Free Trade 101 in 2003? Come to Miami next

week, where the free-for-all is expected to erupt:

 

http://www.nbc6.net/news/2635211/detail.html

(note there are many stories on this on this page, just scroll down)

 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/7261652.htm

It's gonna be wicked. downtown is going to be closed, full riot alert.

 

They've caught several self-proclaimed anarchists in town in the past few

weeks, like the ones on top of a Starbucks (a favorite target of theirs)

with cans of gasoline and hoses.

 

It's a complicated issue, and they choose to work outside the system,

causing riots, instead of working inside the system, causing change. There

is a story in the Herald today about a Harvard lawyer who seems to be the

only one who works inside the system, so she gets a story.

 

We're expecting 'black bands' (dressed all in black, like commandos), guys

with wrist rocket-launchers that spew out ball bearings, the 'piss patrol',

who throw ballons full of you-know, their #2 back up buddies, and lots of

destruction downtown.

 

We'll see if the local cops can control them, but I'm not making any bets.

http://member.newsguy.com/~herblady

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

A bit of discussion has been made on the list about the cost of buying

essential oils from this or that country. To date, I've shipped maybe

35-40 Metric Tons of essential oils and hydrosols, along with other

products, to the USA. To my company and to direct buyers.

 

To date .. we have paid exactly ZERO PERCENT duties .. nor did we pay

any other type of payments that were disguised.

 

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the USA, Canada

and Mexico was intended to strengthen trade by dropping duties and taxes

and such on imports and exports between those three countries. To date,

I've not bought anything from Mexico .. though I have shipped to them.

So I can't say if I would have had to pay any duties to buy from them.

But considering that I haven't paid duties to purchase from countries

that are not a part of NAFTA, and the fact that the USA does honor the

INTENT of NAFTA .. I will assume I would not pay to buy from Mexico.

 

To date I HAVE purchased from Canada .. and paid ZERO PERCENT duties or

taxes .. further proof that the USA is honoring the intent of NAFTA.

 

BUT .. the Canadian government is not (in my opinion) honoring that

intent and in not doing so, they are creating a situation that forces

some Canadians to think that buying Canadian is the cheapest way to get

along. Obviously, that is the intent of the Canadian government.

 

Canadians are NOT paying import duties on oils from the USA .. but the

Canadian government has come up with all kinds of slick, under-the-table

means to get money from those imports. Provincial Sales Tax (PST) is

one of those means. This began around two years ago. Most Canadians

think it is illegal because it is supposed to be a local sales tax for

goods purchased from within the Province .. much like a state sales tax

in the USA .. and it has been challenged in court .. but Big Brother

has denied any relief.

 

So .. we have the PST they pay on oils imported from the USA.

 

AND ..

 

There is a National Tax they pay on oils imported from the USA.

 

AND ..

 

There is a Goods & Services Tax they pay of EO imported from the USA.

 

AND ..

 

There is a tax I don't know the name of .. where Big Brother forces the

Canadian buyer to submit to their conversion of the US Dollar value of

the goods to Canadian Dollars .. then it is taxed.

 

All of this is getting around the intent of NAFTA and it is restricting

free trade from the USA.

 

It is also forcing people to look for ways around the taxes. There are

ways .. and Big Brother has to know this. One way involves risk. That

is if an invoice is undervalued .. the risk comes in if the shipment is

damaged or broken as insurance can only be claimed on invoice value.

 

Other ways don't involve risk but still, no person should have to go to

such extremes to circumvent an unfair situation in the first place.

 

Some Canadians have post office boxes just over the line .. in the USA.

 

Some Canadians have goods delivered to them as " gifts " .. no value.

 

It is my opinion that being forced to take such measures is a shame.

 

However, in spite of the Canadian Big Brother's efforts, many Canadians

are smart enough to have figured out that if a product is not produced

in Canada it was imported by someone from outside .. and somebody,

somewhere has paid all these hidden charges .. which will be passed on

to them when they purchase in Canada.

 

Like the tale of the young soldier who went on a temporary duty trip to

another post. He returned to his post and went to Finance to submit his

Travel Voucher for reimbursement. The young fellow indicated on one of

the lines, " One Lost Hat. " The finance clerk told him he could not be

reimbursed for a lost hat .. that was his responsibility. Told him to

redo the paperwork and resubmit. The young troop did as he was told ..

and resubmitted the paperwork. After the clerk had reviewed it and

issued a check .. the young troop said, " The hat is still in there ..

and I bet you can't find it. "

 

So cost of doing business is gonna be there .. it might not be laid out

on a single line in the invoice .. but it is still there.

 

There are generally hidden costs to buying all goods from one's own

country. Villages and towns and cities were created to preclude each

individual from having to be a butcher, baker and candlestick maker all

in one day .. creation of free trade is what built civilization.

 

We find similar situations here in Turkey .. they are very creative in

devising methods to ensure folks buy Turkish .. and that doesn't help

the population when they are forced to continue to buy sugar made from

beets at 300% the cost they would pay if they bought sugar produced from

cane .. from South America. But .. politicians continue to supplement

the inefficient sugar beet industry.

 

We find similar situations in ALL European countries .. they too are

creative in devising methods to ensure folks buy European .. and even in

those cases where the goods are not produced, and are not available in

Europe, they have ways to ensure that Big Brother gets his cut. Their

reasons for doing this are a bit different (methinks) than are those of

the Turks. Turkish reasons are primarily political and nationalistic.

European reasons are so they can continue to run Social Democratic

systems that guarantee cradle to grave, womb to tomb compensation for

their citizens.

 

The USA has some politicians that would like to see us move in that

direction .. but I am thankful that they are in the minority. I am also

thankful that we are able to observe the results of such actions without

having to experiment too much with them before we find out they are not

what we need in the USA.

 

If it had not been for taxation without representation its likely that

Americans would still be speaking with a British accent. ;-p

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com