WTO meets, sanctions BB beef

Unfair trade practices given as reason

AMSTERDAM (RWN) - The World Trade Organization imposed harsh sanctions on Bible Belt beef today, citing the nation's restrictive trade policies towards its neighbors, the Islamic States of America and Mexico.

The sanctions come just as the Bible Belt was beginning to get its beef production back to pre-war levels. The effect on the beef futures market in Omaha was immediate - prices soared 10 percent to $45.

"We never like doing this to a member state," said Jan Huygens-Burnish, the president of the WTO, "but in this case, we felt that it was justified. This body has long held that import tariffs do not create level playing fields. All tariffs do is restrict fair trade."

The Bible Belt will either have to pay a $350 million fine or immediately put down its trade restrictions to comply with the WTO mandate.

Reaction in the Bible Belt was swift and angry. "We're just a bunch of farmers out here trying to make a living," said W.E. "Dub" Henderson, president of the Bible Belt Cattle Growers Association. "We've already lost our country and some of our best grazing land. We have a right to be able to make a living wage. Heaven knows that if we could appeal, we would. But I guess that's not going to happen. I'm losing faith in this government. If we could retaliate somehow, that'd make me feel better that we lost our best protection. But we can't, and over and over again, it seems like we get rogered on these deals while the people up north seem to make out OK."

"Up north," in the ISA, senior officials said that they expected the WTO to rule the way it did. "We certainly don't want to deprive anyone of the right to earn a living," said Mohammed al-Khobar, the ISA's chief agriculture official. "But we have always believed that free trade is fair trade and we can't stand idly by and watch our own farmers suffer because a country refuses to open its borders."


Comments | Tell A Friend | Run for President