Do the US Army berets count against the quota?
I'm as guilty as anyone. Though this probably falls into the "too much information" area, here's an inventory, by country of origin, of what I'm wearing at this moment:
Tee shirt: Lesotho
Cargo shorts: Bangladesh
Belt: China
Boxers: Indonesia
Socks: no idea
Workboots: Czech Republic
I can't say I'm proud of this array of garments. But on the other hand, I didn't check the country of origin of any of these items before purchasing them. Should I have? Probably. Would I have paid ten percent more for U.S.manufactured goods, given the chance? Maybe. Twenty percent more? Doubtful. A moot point, in any event.
What - are Don Tyson and Haliburton making underwear now?
A bad start. Granted, it will not be as economically costly as the steel quotas which were a disaster. The sooner the textile industry dies in the US, the better. It will soon be manned by illegals in any event, to the extent it isn't already.
U.S. Re-Imposes Quotas on Chinese Clothing
A good start?? Maybe not.
This is only going to limit the INCREASE to 7.5%. So, actually there will be more of these selected items coming in next year.
This reminds me of the story where the bully down the street beats up your kid every day, giving him a black eye and a bloody nose. You approach the bully and say "we've had enough". He says, "okay, tomorrow I'll only bloody his nose". Oh, thank you so much, we're "extremely grateful".
Meanwhile, President Bush (and the other Co-Presidents of the Americas) are meeting to pass CAFTA through and cripple what's left of the textile industry. Funny world, huh?
Thanks for the good post.