The Free Trade Boys Are Clucking: Repeal the Chicken Tax?

[OntarioVanMan]

The Free Trade Boys Are Clucking: Repeal the Chicken Tax?

One of the many, little-known particulars of the automotive industry is a trade tariff economists call The Chicken Tax. Way back in the swinging '60s, Europe aimed to protect its chicken farms from the juggernaut that was the American poultry industry by tripling the tax on US-bred lunch-fowl. In response, we gave Europe's truck builders a collective Bronx cheer in the form of a 25% import tax on foreign-built trucks. Now, our lessez-faire-wether friends in Washington want to reduce the tariff in a free-trade agreement with Thailand, one of the world's largest markets (on both the supply and demand sides) for pickups. If the agreement goes through, the thinking is, scads of low-priced pickups could spill athwart these shores, severly pressurizing Detroit's light-truck profit center.

My feeling is that I would like to see a lot more diversity in the types of trucks offered for sale here, like small compact diesel trucks, and many of the other types of trucks we see sold in other markets, but can't be sold here at a profit, because of the 25% tariff. Eliminating the Chicken tax would allow that to happen. Imported cars have a 2.5% tax. I think for imported trucks it should be the same.
What's your take? Are you for or against continuing the Chicken Tax?

 

[Turtle]

Ford Transit cargo vans are shipped here disguised as passenger vans, specifically to circumvent the Chicken Tax. They have passenger bench seats, and windows, just like a passenger van, except the seats are so cheap they'd fall apart after a few miles of people sitting on them. When they get here and are offloaded from the boat, the seats are removed and shredded in something akin to a wood chipper. They're so cheap and worthless that it's not even worth the trouble to send them back to be reused. The windows are removed and window panels are snapped in place. A few other cosmetic details are addressed, and then it's out the back door to be loaded on a truck for delivery to a dealer. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes from the time the car is driven into the building until it leaves. An army or workers quickly transform the passenger van into a cargo van. Watched it all happen when on a delivery at the Port of Newark.

While I'm in favor of getting rid of the Chicken Tax, it would be at the cost of about 100 jobs at the Port of Newark alone.

 

[Brisco]

While I'm in favor of getting rid of the Chicken Tax, it would be at the cost of about 100 jobs at the Port of Newark alone.

Quite sure these are "Union" Jobs that are paying these guys $37 an hour to do this simple task mentioned above.........

Wouldn't bother me if these Jobs were lost.

 

[OldGuy]

Something in Detroit still makes a profit?

 

[xiggi]

Something in Detroit still makes a profit?

Yes you'll find them on many street corners.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using EO Forums

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Something like 1000 jobs would be lost in Ladson South Carolina where where they reassemble the sprinter

 

[moose]

The Only chicken is the US Gov. that don't do enough to protect American manufacturing.
I'd like to see tariff skyrocketing to protect us from JUNK Cheap imports we do not really needs.
in every trade agreement we are getting the short side of the stick. our economy is large enough to be just about self contained.
i do not like Obama at all but a few weeks ago he said :"we want to make it here & sale it there, not to make it there and buy it here". removing those chickens will do the opposite.
I'd say :"buy American", & shop local.