Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

It appears that South Korea is willing, if that's what you want to call it, to compromise on their official/unofficial US beef Blockade. Instead of combing through a whole shipment of beef to find the most minute piece of bone fragment imaginable so they can reject the shipment, they are now willing to comb through each box in a shipment for bone fragments so they can send each box home individually instead of by a whole shipment at a time.

I guess the compromise here is that they are willing to spend a lot more time and money to reject our US beef than they used to. Real nice of them, isn't it?

Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf ;is better than a whole loaf. Gilbert K. Chesterton

Nelson threatens trade war with South Korea over beef

Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson (D) threatened to introduce legislation that would impose sanctions on South Korea if that nation doesn’t end its more than three-year-long ban on U.S. beef. Nelson introduced similar legislation aimed at Japan while that nation's market remained closed to U.S. beef, but that measure would only have embargoed Japanese beef from entering the U.S. This time, Nelson told Brownfield, sanctions legislation against South Korea would involve a wider range of products.

It looks like somebody is willing to threaten South Korea with a very big stick over their official, unofficial trade barrier to US beef. Sounds good to me. It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this.

Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far. Theodore Roosevelt

You might remember my rant about South Korea's unofficial, official trade barrier to US Beef. Well I see South Korea has again threw up it's unofficial, official trade barrier for the world to see.

South Korea says banned bone pieces found in third U.S. beef shipment

South Korea said Wednesday it has found banned bone pieces in a third shipment of U.S. beef and will suspend imports from the U.S. slaughterhouse that processed the meat.

South Korea, formerly the third-largest foreign market for American beef, had banned U.S. beef for almost three years over fears of mad cow disease. It agreed in September to resume imports on condition that they contain only boneless meat following concerns that some material in bones could be dangerous to consume.

Read a little further and it gets very interesting. They found 7 bone pieces ranging in size from .12 inches to .39 inches in 10.2 tons of meat. Let me repeat that last part, 10.2 tons of meat.

They really had to be wanting to reject this shipment to comb through it that fine to find such small pieces. This is just proof positive that they don't want to open their markets to US Beef. They just want to say their market is open, while turning back all shipments, to enhance their chance of a free trade agreement with the US. The ploy is becoming way to obvious. Hell, even U.S. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns says that he is considering a WTO case on the issue.

People would have to be crazy to try to ship and beef into South Korea at this point. I know that is South Korea's goal and it has worked. It's hurt their chances of a FTA. You win some, you lose some.

In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery? Saint Augustine

A little more information on my rant yesterday about South Korea's unofficial, official trade barrier to US beef.

Baucus sets condition to support pact

The next chairman of the Senate Finance Committee sliced into a T-bone steak here Sunday and said he cannot support a free-trade agreement between the United States and South Korea, if South Korea does not lift restrictions on imports of U.S. beef.

"I have a beef with Korea," Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., told Korean reporters who came to Montana for the fifth round of negotiations toward a U.S.-South Korea trade agreement. "Our beef is the safest, highest quality in the world and Korea should open its market fully as soon as possible."

I stated earlier that it would be interesting to see if the US government will stand up to South Korea on this issue. I will give points to Sen. Baucus that he appears to be doing just that. This is not a surprise since Max has always worked hard for the people of Montana, I am just glad to see it.

Go Max, tell the South Koreans you mean business, The cattle industry (or at least this small segment of it) supports you.

The goal is to normalize trade relations based on sound science and consumer protection. Mike Johanns

I posted a while ago that South Korea had opened up its market to US beef and how the news made me happy. It turns out I was wrong. While technically opening its market to US beef, South Korea has has rejected almost every shipment of beef into its country for one reason or another causing a new furor in the cattle industry,

U.S. meat industry blasts South Korea for beef bar

U.S. beef producers and packers excoriated South Korea on Friday for rejecting a second shipment of U.S. beef, accusing Seoul of unjustified stalling just a week before talks on a proposed free trade deal.

"This reiterates ... that the Koreans were never really interested in opening the market," said John Reddington, vice president for trade at the American Meat Institute.

Earlier on Friday, officials in Seoul said they had rejected a shipment of U.S. beef that contained bone fragments. They acted a week after the first shipment from a U.S. plant since 2003 was rejected for the same reason.

Seoul's decision to bar imports from two out of three U.S. plants currently exporting to Korea mark a shaky restart for meat trade with the Asian nation. U.S. imports had been banned since the first U.S. case of mad cow disease in 2003.

It would appear that the only reason the South Korean's opened up their beef market was to drive the free trade talks with the US. They want free trade with the US but don't want to allow free trade into their country by our products so they raise a barrier to our beef that is almost unassailable but still claim that trade is opened up. Convenient isn't it.

In a way what is really funny about this situation is that the US and South Korea are holding trade talks in of all places, beef country, Montana starting Monday. The South Koreans have the idea that their treatment of US beef will not be part of the talks. I think they are going to be unpleasantly surprised about that. If the way they are treating US beef is an indication of how they are going to approach free trade, there will be no free trade with South Korea, only more artificial barriers created by South Korea in an effort to open up US markets for their goods.

It will be interesting to see if the US Government will stand up to South Korea on this issue or will they cave to get a free trade agreement signed with South Korea. Only time will tell.

Trade can really be good for American workers and American businesses. Richard Neal