France targets Coca-Cola in escalating 'cheese wars'

The Telegraph ^ | 1/21/2009 | Henry Samuel in Paris

[flushing_kenny]

Actually, I agree with the European position on hormones in cattle. There is no need for it. I already pay a bit of a premium to get steaks that are hormone free and its probably better to steer clear of chemical steer.

Some antibiotics are ok, but only if the animal was sick. Otherwise, there is no reason to force feed drugs to animals unless they are raised in unhealthy conditions. In that case, I don’t want that meat and would rather get grass-fed (not corn silage) Angus. Or heritage pork (yum yum yum).

[Doohickey]

Yeah, that line from the All in the Family theme was intended to be a Smooth-Hawley reference.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Coca-Cola doesn't manufacture machinery, so who cares if they're punished?

[bronxboy]

Since there is a ban on American meat...I guess France started it...good for Bush. I am sick of American getting creamed because of unfair trade policy.

[bronxboy]

This is a ploy...the beef industry offered certified hormone free beef...France still won’t do it.

[bronxboy]

EU is not the biggest market...we are and should not allow the unfair trade policies that now exist.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

No, the EU is the largest market in the world. The difference is unimportant however, both the EU and the US need each other economically and this is exactly the wrong time to be having a trade war....

[dfwgator]

"In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the... Anyone? Anyone?... the Great Depression, passed the... Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Which, anyone? Raised or lowered?... raised tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. Today we have a similar debate over this. Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before? The Laffer Curve. Anyone know what this says? It says that at this point on the revenue curve, you will get exactly the same amount of revenue as at this point. This is very controversial. Does anyone know what Vice President Bush called this in 1980? Anyone? Something-d-o-o economics. "Voodoo" economics."

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

The finished product isn’t imported, but the syrup used to make it is...

[bronxboy]

Perhaps the EU should have thought about this...before they started one. They already lost at the WTO...Canada has slapped a tarif on them also. You trade or not, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

[W]e find that the European Communities did not actually proceed to an assessment, within the meaning of Articles 5.1 and 5.2, of the risks arising from the failure of observance of good veterinary practice combined with problems of control of the use of hormones for growth promotion purposes. The abscence of such risk assessment, when considered in conjunction with the conclusion actually reached by most, if not all, of the scientific studies relating to the other aspects of risk noted earlier, leads us to the conclusion that no risk assessment that reasonably supports or warrants the import prohibition embodied in the EC Directives was furnished to the Panel. We affirm, therefore, the ultimate conclusions of the Panel that the EC import prohibition is not based on a risk assessment within the meaning of Articles 5.1 and 5.2 of the SPS Agreement and is, therefore, inconsistent with the requirements of Article 5.1.

[bronxboy]

If there truly is a free market...not that I have seen evidence of one-then let French consumers decide. If they don’t buy the meat then no point in sending it...however, illegal tariffs must be confronted.

[bronxboy]

Also, it’s always the wrong time to have a trade war...which is why EU and others get away with it...in a recession eating American cheese is not a bad thing.

[gogogodzilla]

Hmm, I thought that Coca-Cola produced the syrup locally.

Then it looks like the tariff actually has teeth.