US Congress Reacts to Latest Beef Ban
After the latest ban on US beef imports into Korea was announced this week Senator Ben Nelson had some strong things to say about South Korea:
“Of course, shipments intended for domestic use shouldn’t have been sent to Korea, and there was a mess-up in the U.S. Department of Agriculture that contributed to this mistake,” said Nelson, D-Neb., on Wednesday.
But Nelson categorized the shipments as a procedural problem, not a safety concern.
“Instead of just dealing with the one thing … nope, they shut it all down,” Nelson said. “They take every opportunity to shut off our beef, then they want a free Korean trade agreement.”
“It’s clear that the reaction by the South Korean government was far out of line with the problem. It indicates to me that they were probably looking for an excuse to stop imports,” Nelson said.
You don’t say.Â
The Korean government will just continue to play this game as long as there are no consequences for it. Everyone remember the Great Kimchi Crisis of 2005 between Korea and China? During the crisis the Korean government tried to stop Chinese kimchi imports because they supposedly were tainted with lead. The Chinese quickly responded by denying certain Korean imports in kind and suddenly the Great Kimchi Crisis was solved.Â
This is the same kind of action that needs to be taken in regards to US beef.  Senator Nelson appears to finally be getting the US government moving in that direction:
Nelson said he planned to send a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., asking him to withhold any committee action on a free trade agreement with South Korea until that country resumes American beef imports.
He also will be asking the U.S. trade representative to proceed against South Korea in the World Trade Organization for “their unfair treatment of U.S. beef.”
How about turning around the first ship full of Samsung Electronics products and see what happens?
Even the threat of playing hardball with the Korean negotiating side ought to work, but the US would have to be prepared to back it up. Granted both sides lie in these negotiations, but I cannot understand why the US does not publicly call-out the ROKs on the fact the retail price of imports here is simply outrageous.
Go price a Grandeur, a BMW, a Ford, a Chrysler, a pair Levis, or even LG or Samsung electronic products at your Korean neighborhood dealer – then compare that price to one you can find online in the US. Typically 100-300% more in Korea.
Those that stand to gain the most by keeping imports out, or at least expensive, are the Korean bureaucrats. They line their pockets with rice cake money from the importers that they've granted a virtual monopoly to, and from the Chaebols that can over charge the locals because import competition is so expensive.
That is why the ROKs give in to the Chinese all the time because they know the Chinese will back of their threats. However, they have been able to screw over the US for decades with little threat of reprecussions. So this is just standard operating procedure for them because they know they can get away with it.
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