Trade Penalties Weighed in Climate Bill

Wall Street Journal ^ | June 26, 2009 | Stephen Power and Greg Hitt

[reaganaut1]

House Democratic leaders Thursday weighed tough trade penalties on countries that don't cap so-called greenhouse-gas emissions, while President Barack Obama sought support from wavering lawmakers ahead of a vote on a climate bill.

The trade proposal is designed to protect a half dozen trade-sensitive U.S. industries, including steel, cement and chemical manufacturers, from competitors in countries that don't cap their output of greenhouse gases. [Climate Cost]

Top House Democrats and many members of the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade policy, led the negotiations and effectively signed off on details of the plan late Thursday.

The measure -- expected to be folded into the 1,200-page proposal to curb U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions -- is tougher than a provision approved last month by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It would impose the sanctions in 2020, five years before the earlier-approved version would, and give Congress authority to levy a border fee, if the president chooses not to act, that would raise the cost of imported goods.

The inclusion of the trade-related provisions is meant to appease lawmakers from heavy industry states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan who worry that limits on U.S. emissions would put domestic industries at a disadvantage to competitors in countries like China that don't limit emissions.

Rep. Sander Levin (D., Mich.) said the changes are "designed to do no more than is necessary to ensure that this important legislation is trade neutral for our energy intensive industries."

...

The proposed border-adjustment program also includes commitments to help downstream industries that make use of products that face global competition.

[reaganaut1]

I assume the trade provisions discussed in the article stayed in the bill? Even the Dems are forced to admit that cap-and-trade will hurt American manufacturers, and starting a trade war will not help them.

The Chinese could tell Zero that they will stop funding his huge budget deficits.

[reaganaut1]

global warming ping

[steelyourfaith]

Thanx !

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !

[JackOfVA]

The Chinese could tell Zero that they will stop funding his huge budget deficits.

Or that they have a copy of his Kenyan birth certificate ...

Jack

[Mr. Silverback]

They weren’t satisfied with domestic measures so bad they’ve been described as “making Smoot-Hawley look like corporate welfare.” No, they needed an actual repeat of Smoot-Hawley before they were sure it was a good bill.

I’d call them morons, but to do that you have to assume they aren’t evil.

[apillar]

I’m sure that will go over with the WTO like a lead balloon...

[Sooth2222]

The Chinese could tell Zero that they will stop funding his huge budget deficits.

Exactly my first thought before I even clicked on the thread. The Chinese will tell Barry to go pound sand. He has much less leverage than he thinks he has.

[untenured]

FDR created his NRA, which proceeded to insert itself into every nook and cranny of American economic life, telling businesses what prices they had to charge, with whom they should merge, and other directives too numerous to mention. The resulting unpredictability and erosion of the rule of law led to a catastrophic worsening of what would've been an ordinary acute economic bust, of the sort that we had had many times before.

Now, it seems, the climate legislation is going to give Congress oversight over all CO2 use, which is to say over the economy itself. It will empower Congress to reward and punish businesses and individuals in new and again highly unpredictable ways for not managing their CO2 to Congress's constantly changing standard of satisfaction, all at a time when the economy is in miserable shape anyway.

It is incredible to watch this happen again.

[Venturer]

I doubt one in ten of those who voted on this bill either way know whats in it.

They dont read the things they vote on.

We could save tons of mony if we just turmned the building over to the Smithsonian for another museum and closed Congress completely. Reid ,Pelosi and Obama are running the country, paying the rest of them is money tossed in the trash.

[Oldpuppymax]

So prices skyrocket and unions benefit. Shrewd, Hussein.

[NoobRep]

Well beings that this disaster of a bill would destroy manufacturing in this country, what the hell would we be trading?

China would simply laugh since they own us anyways.

[rbg81]

Yup. TheDems may as well take their orders from the Chinese communists. Heck, that goes for most of the Republicans too. Our political class practically created today’s China out of thin air by massive wealth transfers (us to them). Now, we will probably “buy” imaginary carbon credits from them too. The reason for all this is still beyond me.

[rbg81]

I doubt one in ten of those who voted on this bill either way know whats in it. They dont read the things they vote on.

---

That plus that fact that “empathetic” judges will soon interpret laws however they want anyway. I fear that the future is that anyone in power will be able to do anything because the “law” will be whatever they say it is.

[Lorianne]

Net ‘greenhouse gasses’ will increase because strictly controlled US emissions will be replaced by 3rd world emissions as jobs, business and manufacturing goes elsewhere ... China, Vietnam, Mexico, India, Brazil, you name it.

A really stupid bill promoted by some really stupid politically correct legislators and their supporters.