House Votes To Change Law Due To Trade Agreement, While Insisting That Trade Agreements Don't Change Laws

from the do-they-even-understand dept

Fri, Jun 12th 2015 3:28am — Andrew Norton

Two weeks ago, the House Agriculture Committee voted 38-6 to repeal country-of-origin-labeling. (COOL), and now it's the full House's turn. In a 300-131 vote yesterday the "country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act" (HR 2393) passed with the support of a significant number of Democrats as well as the majority of Republicans.

The bill's prompting and passage came after the World Trade Organisation ruled in favor of Canadian farmers, who sued claiming it was "discriminatory" and thus in violation of Free Trade Agreements. The problem? Cattle bought from abroad would have to be segregated from domestic cattle, increasing costs and making imports less desirable.

With Fast Track coming up for a vote -- perhaps even today -- it's curious to see this snippet in the Associated Press report on the vote by the Speaker of the House:

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said after the vote that the last thing American farmers need "is for Congress to sit idly by as international bureaucrats seek to punish them through retaliatory trade policies that could devastate agriculture as well as other industries."

That is, of course, the same John Boehner that has been encouraging the President to get more support for Fast Track, in order to pass more of these "Free Trade" deals that impose more international bureaucrats and will almost certainly lead to more disputes that "require" Congress to "not sit idly by."

Meanwhile, remember what President Obama said at the Nike Plant just a few weeks ago:

[TPP] critics warn that parts of this deal would undermine American regulation -- food safety, worker safety, even financial regulations. They're making this stuff up. (Applause.) This is just not true. No trade agreement is going to force us to change our laws.

Less than one month on, and we have exactly what he claimed 'is not true' happening. A trade agreement forcing a law change, and having what some would claim is an impact on food safety. And it's happening a day or so before the House is voting to create even more such situations while claiming that it won't do this. Do they not even recognize what it is they're voting on?

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Filed Under: congress, corporate sovereignty, fast track, house, isds, john boehner, nafta, tpp, trade agreements, trade promotion authority, ttip

32 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2015 @ 3:43am

And it's happening a day or so before the House is voting to create even more such situations while claiming that it won't do this.

This is called spin, which is a synonym for lying.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2015 @ 3:47am

BOLD FACE LIES
Just last night on the news Obama's press Sec. said we can rely on the Pres. promises. Yeah right, I lost count on the broken promises and faith in politicians in general. Jail them all under the RICO law, they really an organized crime syndicate, both parties each with their own agenda, equally corrupt.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2015 @ 3:47am

Why no. No they don't.

Do they not even recognize what it is they're voting on?

They're paid to vote, not to read.
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David, 12 Jun 2015 @ 4:13am

Re: Why no. No they don't.
And their payment packages increase the more and the better they lie.

The U.S. selectively breeds politicians which evolve, genetically and culturally, into beings with unprecendented amounts of greed, recklessness and capacity for lying with a straight face, lying about what they either know to be false or which they cannot be bothered to look into themselves since it would actually require working for those minor but steady parts of their income they pocket from public coffers.
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Vladlagg, 12 Jun 2015 @ 5:20am

vote roll call
Thank you for linking the voting roll call in the story. It saves a lot of time for me to look it up.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2015 @ 6:21am

the politicians are bought and paid for by whoever gives them the most money with a few exceptions. Obama says what people want to hear then usually does the opposite.

When the revolution happens there will be a statesmen hanging from every lamppost in the capitol area
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drjimmy (profile), 12 Jun 2015 @ 6:38am

If Boehner is talking, he is lying.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2015 @ 6:43am

I see. Something is fundamentally wrong when a piece of legislation that serves no purpose other than establishing a clear benefit for domestic producers at the expense of all others is taken off the books.

A fundamental purpose of trade agreements is to try and break down barriers to trade and favoritism within a country towards its domestic industries. Apparently domestic favoritism is seen here on this blog as a good thing, even though what it does is undercut competition in favor of entrenched interests.
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David, 12 Jun 2015 @ 6:53am

Re:
"lying" would imply that he is wittingly telling an untruth. I don't think he bothers cross-checking his truths with reality at all: he is not paid for doing that, it would require independent thought, and once you know the truth it might inadvertantly slip out.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2015 @ 6:54am

Re:
I don't see anything in this article that takes a stand either way on the merits of the country-of-origin labeling law. The point is that a domestic law was changed based on the demands of a trade agreement, which is something that the House and others have insisted would never happen.

Whether or not you (or the authors) agree with the law or its repeal doesn't matter here. Either way, it's perfectly right to criticize the ones making these claims when they're so clearly shown to be wrong.
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Andrew (profile), 12 Jun 2015 @ 7:00am

Re: vote roll call
No problem, it's always one of the things that I want to know, so it's something I always try and include
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2015 @ 7:09am

Re:
Please try and keep up now, will you?
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2015 @ 7:15am

'Cattle bought from abroad would have to be segregated from domestic cattle, increasing costs and making imports less desirable'

while increasing the risk of cross animal infections and diseases.

'Do they not even recognize what it is they're voting on?'

dont be daft! of course they dont! and as it wont affect them, these politicians dont give a fuck either! on top of that, it makes no difference what Obama says, he flip-flops all over the place, changing his statements to suit the occasion, including ignoring what he wants to as well!
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That One Guy (profile), 12 Jun 2015 @ 7:24am

Swing and a miss.
The problem is that those who are claiming that TPP won't cause changes to local laws, and so is therefore not something that people need to worry about(and certainly not be ale to read) are clearly lying, as that's exactly what just happened.
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Ambrellite, 12 Jun 2015 @ 7:40am

Everything's ok!
Don't worry, everybody, foreign investors will be greeted as liberators. These are just the birth pangs of capitalism! The TPP will turn things around within six months! The surge (in campaign donations) will work! It will be worth it to have deposed the unions! 9/11!
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2015 @ 8:01am

Re: Re: Why no. No they don't.
...they are sort of like failed CEOs - just lacking the knowledge... eh any knowledge, it seems...
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David, 12 Jun 2015 @ 8:24am

Re:
If I got to choose, I'd prefer a president getting sucked off by a little intern rather than big corporations next time round.

Less overall damage. And much cheaper to pay off.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2015 @ 8:29am

Re: Re:
If you're referring to Clinton, I hate to break it to you but he was bought and paid for too. Remember NAFTA?
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2015 @ 8:31am

Re: Everything's ok!
Just tell the GOP that ISDS courts can establish Sharia Law. That'll have them vote no in a heartbeat - it just sucks that such bigotry is necessary
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Andrew (profile), 12 Jun 2015 @ 8:34am

Re: Re: Everything's ok!
True enough, Sharia law (which literally means 'religious laws') is the domain of the Republicans, not some bureaucrats trying to steal their fundamentalist bases
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Rekrul, 12 Jun 2015 @ 9:36am

Re:
I see. Something is fundamentally wrong when a piece of legislation that serves no purpose other than establishing a clear benefit for domestic producers at the expense of all others is taken off the books.

A fundamental purpose of trade agreements is to try and break down barriers to trade and favoritism within a country towards its domestic industries. Apparently domestic favoritism is seen here on this blog as a good thing, even though what it does is undercut competition in favor of entrenched interests.

Without country of origin labeling, how will you know if the food you're eating came from a country with lax production standards, like China? How many kids got sick or died from tainted baby food? How many pets did Chinese-made pet treats and toys kill? Do you really want to eat meat that was raised and processed there?
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ishould (profile), 12 Jun 2015 @ 9:37am

I secretly hope Obama is just bluffing and will veto the fast track if passed. "Holy shit, you fell for that? Ha!"
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Anon, 12 Jun 2015 @ 9:41am

Mooo!
The problem is this - the continental beef industry is pretty integrated. Cattle could be raised in Canada, shipped to the states, perhaps fattened up some more, and then made into juicy steaks. The law would have required that beef to be separately labelled as originating in Canada, meaning the whole assembly line would have to be stopped and started to process some cattle separately - those cattle would have to be somehow separately tracked, etc. That would be a logistical nightmare. Why do this? The farmers who would benefit from less beef on the market and so they lobbied to restrict trade using non-tariff barriers. Nebraska farmers vote for congress, Alberta farmers don't.

The problem is - if ever there was a "level playing field" trade arrangement it's between the USA and Canada. It's hard to find more similar countries. If you want to argue against free trade where one side treats their workers or environment worse, that would be the USA not Canada. (and then there's Mexico)

NAFTA was duly negotiated, debated, voted on and signed by all 3 countries. AFAIK, it does not contain any secret trapdoors or special gotchas like the Obamatrade stuff does. It promotes open trade. Nevertheless, congress and the white house have repeatedly ignored or bypassed or attempted to subvert the provisions, where it suits them and their high-paid lobbyists.

This is the opposite of the Obamatrade problem - this was a open set of principles - free trade. The principles were agreed to in a treaty, which was ratified by the Congress. Logically, if congress now tries to renege, pass laws in violation of that treaty, then they have a simple choice - abandon the whole treaty or abandon the attempt to subvert. Play nice. Stop being the 800-lb gorilla.

The problem with the current trade attempts is not that - it's the opposite. The congress does not know what they are giving away, has not studied and debated it, may in fact cede the power to *make* rules to other bodies, may be giving away more that then think. This was never the case with NAFTA, nor with WTO rules.

There's nothing wrong with binding yourself long term to a contract or treaty, if you understand the terms and implications.
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Rekrul, 12 Jun 2015 @ 9:42am

It's funny, I mentioned this issue to my friend just the other day and he told me that it would NEVER happen because people wouldn't stand for it. He said that people would fight it. Gee, I wonder how he plans to fight it, since it looks like it's going to pass.

In fact, when I raised the whole issue of ISDS being an issue that everyone should be concerned with, he just laughed and said that nobody could tell the US what to do. If they were sued, their lawyers would win, and even if they somehow lost, they couldn't go against the will of the people.
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That One Guy (profile), 12 Jun 2015 @ 9:59am

Re:
To fight a problem, first you have to know it exists, and those involved have done everything they possibly can to keep the public as in the dark as possible, precisely for this reason.
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Justin, 12 Jun 2015 @ 10:02am

District of Criminals
Is anyone surprised that John Boner and the rest of these sellouts are in the process of selling the people of this country completely out to international corporations? Its time for everyone to admit that we have criminals running things, that they covered up a false flag 9/11 done by the military industrial complex and now we are not only in a police state and never ending war for profit but our health is at risk from these international treaties. The conspiracy theorists were not only right but they didnt predict how bad it was really going to get.
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John Fenderson (profile), 12 Jun 2015 @ 10:11am

Re: Re:
This.

And even if that weren't a concern, I am astounded that anyone thinks that people shouldn't have the right to know where their food comes from.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2015 @ 3:22pm

Re: Mooo!
Except it's not about the cattle laws, it's about the fact a secret international tribunal has the power to override the laws of a sovereign nation. The cattle thing is purely incidental. ISDS is a very anti-democratic structure.

Also if you really think that NAFTA would just be fine-and-dandy if they enforced the other provisions, well that's the catch isn't it? Treaties like these always have these so-called "safeguards" but they NEVER get enforced.
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Mike Masnick (profile), 12 Jun 2015 @ 10:42pm

Re:
I see. Something is fundamentally wrong when a piece of legislation that serves no purpose other than establishing a clear benefit for domestic producers at the expense of all others is taken off the books.

No one is arguing about that. Why change the subject other than the obvious: you and your friends want TPP so you'll mislead to get people away from the point.

You're so transparent. And not the good kind of transparency.

The point is simple. In fact, if you are who I think you are, I remember long debates with YOU about your insistence that ACTA and TPP could not and would not force the US to change a single law. You were most insistent on that fact.

And yet, when we post an example proving that you were full of shit, look how quickly you show up to try to change the subject.

Hilarious.
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Pragmatic, 15 Jun 2015 @ 6:24am

Re: Re: Re:
The Republicans would be no better. They're two sides of the same coin. It's a bad coin.

As for "Free Trade", that's a misnomer. Let's call them "Corporate Supremacy" agreements from now on, shall we?
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Pragmatic, 15 Jun 2015 @ 6:28am

Re: Re: Re: Everything's ok!
Some right-wingers are calling it "Obamatrade," and using that to scupper TPP and TTIP not because they give a damn about us, but to rob the President of any glory for getting a trade deal passed during his administration.

So yeah, bigotry works. *Sigh!*

Seriously, do a search on "Obamatrade" and see what you come up with.
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Pragmatic, 15 Jun 2015 @ 6:28am

Re:
He's an Establishment suck-up. He won't.
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