Comment Catfish is example of shamefaced protectionism (Score 1) 827
Consider:
1. First they tried FUD, with Congressman Berry, (Dem, Arkansas) claiming that maybe the catfish were contaminated by Agent Orange.
2. Next, the Catfish Farmers of America (CFA) managed to persuade Congress to pass a law restricting the use of the word "catfish" to American varieties.
3. Neither of these diry tricks worked mainly because American consumers are not as stupid as they thought. So they decided to launch an anti-dumping suit. They petitioned the department of commerce to work out how much it would cost to raise hypothetical catfish in India, fillet and freeze them in imaginary factories, and ship them in phantom boats to America. When you resort to this level of creative accounting it is not hard to get the answer you want. Evil Vietnamese catfish barons are dumping below cost catfish on struggling American farmers.
Of course no-one wants to consider the obvious reason - catfish are plentiful in Vietnam and labour is cheap.
1. First they tried FUD, with Congressman Berry, (Dem, Arkansas) claiming that maybe the catfish were contaminated by Agent Orange.
2. Next, the Catfish Farmers of America (CFA) managed to persuade Congress to pass a law restricting the use of the word "catfish" to American varieties.
3. Neither of these diry tricks worked mainly because American consumers are not as stupid as they thought. So they decided to launch an anti-dumping suit. They petitioned the department of commerce to work out how much it would cost to raise hypothetical catfish in India, fillet and freeze them in imaginary factories, and ship them in phantom boats to America. When you resort to this level of creative accounting it is not hard to get the answer you want. Evil Vietnamese catfish barons are dumping below cost catfish on struggling American farmers.
Of course no-one wants to consider the obvious reason - catfish are plentiful in Vietnam and labour is cheap.
