Meat Is (Scooter) Murder...

President Bush's proposed 100% tariff (proposed due to the European ban on American beef) on European scooters/motorcycles is the latest snafu made by our president and is sure to cost our economy even more jobs if it is passed.  Why motorcycles?  It seems as if the president played darts with european exports and scooters/motorcycles is what he hit.  Would it not make more sense (still not a lot of sense, but a little more than the motorcycle industry) to impose the same tarrif on the European automotive industry?  You could essentially kill two birds with one stone and also help our struggling auto industry by lowering competition.

The tariff was first proposed as retaliation against the European ban on our beef due to the use of our growth hormones (growth hormones are something I don't totally understand and I could definitely see people having reservations about eating food that contains them).  If Europe doesn't want to eat beef with growth hormones I don't have a problem with it.  We are a capitalistic nation, and isn't capitalism about providing the market what it wants?  If America really wants to sell beef to Europe, I think some innovative farmers should start some hormone free beef farms.  Hey, it could even start a new movement in America like the organic food craze.

There are two main problems with the proposed tariff.  Firstly, the tariff has nothing to do with the food industry and will do little if nothing to change Europe's stance on our beef.  I personally don't think that the idea of a tariff is a bad one, but it could definitely be used more effectively.  If the tariff were to be applied to a European food imports such as chocolates (Godiva and Cadbury is what comes to mind), beer (as much as I love beer it would be more appropriate), or speciality meats (such as proscuitto ham) it would send a louder message and I think get more accomplished.  Another option would be to cut off our exports to Europe of our most valuable food crop, corn.

My second problem with the tariff is in regards to whom it is applied.  Currently, Europe is not the only country that bans American beef do to our use of growth hormones.  Since 2000 the following countries (in addition to the EU)  have either fully or partially banned American beef: South Korea, Japan, Brazil, Ukraine, Canada, China,  and Singapore.  Europe is not on the "lets ban American beef" bandwagon by themselves, so why are we only applying this tariff to Europe?  In my eyes, for this tariff to be fair it should be applied to all countries who ban American beef imports and produce motorcycles/scooters.  Why wouldn't they do this?  It would have too much impact on our relationships with Japan and South Korea, and I think they see the European tariff as one that will go under the radar.

For the sake of scootering/motorcycling in this country, I hope that this tariff is not passed and that it is shifted to focus on a more food related category.  Currently the American Motorcycle Association is lobbing against the tariff and I encourage you to do anything in your power to stop this injustice, such as writing your US Congress and Senate members to voice your displeasure.