Possible Plan for Tariffs on Imports From China Remains Alive in House Climate [Swindle] Bill - NYTimes.com
A House committee working on sweeping energy legislation seems determined to make sure that the United States will tax China and other carbon polluters, potentially disrupting an already-sensitive climate change debate in Congress.
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The Ways and Means Committee's proposed bill language (pdf) would virtually require that the president impose an import tariff on any country that fails to clamp down on greenhouse gas emissions.
Directed primarily at China, the United States' biggest manufacturing competitor, the provisions aim to protect cement, steel and other energy-intensive industries that expect to face higher costs under a federal emissions cap. But associations that represent importers and multinational corporations are raising red flags, warning that the language could lead to trade wars, hurt the United States' ability to export low-carbon technology and harm consumers.
"This is a sleeper issue that lawmakers have not been paying enough attention to," said Jake Colvin, vice president for global trade issues at the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents multinational corporations like Boeing Co. and Microsoft Corp. advocating for an open international trading system.
"The danger is, you focus so much on leveling the playing field for U.S. firms, that you neglect the potentially serious consequences that this could have on the international trading system," Colvin said.
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Sallie James, a trade policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a free-market think tank, called the proposed language "very dangerous." She warned that because Congress addresses competitiveness and not environmental concerns, the measure would almost certainly not be protected by World Trade Organization rules.
Said James, "If it goes ahead, I think the U.S. can expect litigation."
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1 comment:
Trade litigation will just be the tip of the iceburg. Cap&Trade was created as a protectionist system but eventually every trading nation will be forced to join. Europe has had theirs for 5 years now, so the US will be forced to join, even if the vote is negative on Friday, the US will join anyway because they have no choice really. It won't take long for other countries, for example Canada will have theirs in place within a year, Australia within a year, the list goes on. Every trading nation will be forced to join or face trade restrictions because their products would be considered "dirty" in the language of the Greens.
The public does not have a clue what they're getting into. I love it.
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