[rlmorel]

"...the company's use of unfinished wood from India is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because of the Justice Department's interpretation of a law in India..."

What is the meaning of this? That they broke some damned Indian law? What law? Were no American laws broken?

[aruanan]

What is the meaning of this? That they broke some damned Indian law? What law? Were no American laws broken?

And remember that in 2009 the same DOJ raided them and took loads of stuff because of some wood from Madagascar. They have everything they needed from Madagascar saying that Gibson had the wood legally and complied with all laws but the DOJ is still holding onto their stuff. Once the presidency is taken by a conservative, there needs to be thorough investigations, prosecutions, and deep cauterizing.

[SuziQ]

The Gibson company broke no laws in their purchase of the wood from East India. They have all the pertinent documents about the purchase and shipment, and customs declarations. In fact, someone in the comments to the story mentioned that Martin Guitars, in PA, uses the same wood from the same location, in East India, but hasn’t been bothered by the DOJ, neither have any of the other manufacturers of guitars in the US. The only difference between Gibson, and the others, is that Gibsons are made in TN, which is a Right to Work state, and all the others are made in states with union labor.

[driftdiver]

Earlier articles on discussed the draconian laws/regulations being enforced. Apparently some of the more rare woods are now illegal to possess. If you happen to own a classic guitar which used these woods (e.g. ebony) and go through customs you have to prove the wood is legal. Which means you have to prove how old the wood is, where it was harvested, and how it was harvested. Otherwise you are guilty of a crime.

[GoodDay]

What is the meaning of this? That they broke some damned Indian law? What law? Were no American laws broken?

According to the article in Human Events, the real reason the DoJ raided the factory was because the workers weren't unionized: Gibson is located in Tennessee, a "right to work" state.