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To: Mark Adams who wrote (42062)	11/25/2003 10:09:25 AM
From: Condor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Meanwhile, China's threats to retaliate over bras with restrictions against American-made goods—with agriculture as one target—already had their effect yesterday in dragging down soybean, wheat and corn prices. Yup....now TV's. US expands China trade row to TVs news.bbc.co.uk C

To: Mark Adams who wrote (42062)	2/3/2004 4:58:30 AM
From: Mark Adams	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

A Trade Row Down Under ... {note: from what I've seen, it appears the US has/had an embargo on Argentine beef prior to the December BSE announcement. No beef from Argentina, Australia, or Canada, for american consumers. Yet "the story" reads higher prices are the natural result of higher demand due to the Atkins/South beach low carb trend} THE "BEEF MAFIA." Opposition to a U.S. deal Down Under has come from American farmers, who worry about cheap meat, dairy, and other agricultural imports from Australia. The National Milk Producers Federation frets that a free-trade deal with Australia that allows Aussie milk unfettered access to America's supermarkets could cripple the U.S. dairy industry, throwing 150,000 people out of work and closing almost a quarter of the country's dairy farms. Wisconsin's two senators, Democrats Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, are among a group of lawmakers who have introduced a Senate resolution urging Bush to be cautious about any deal with Australia. Dairy farmers and their supporters aren't alone in opposing a pact with the Aussies. U.S. cattlemen and sugar farmers are worried, too. Anybody doubting the importance of these groups to politicians need only remember the 2002 Senate race in Louisiana, where embattled incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu was able to hold onto her seat in part with claims she would fight harder than her Republican opponent to support the state's sugar industry against cheap imports. Not that the Australians are blameless. They're opposing American efforts to loosen local-content requirements for Australian TV programming. They also oppose American calls for more access to the local market for U.S. pharmaceutical companies. BITTERSWEET FRIENDSHIP. Still, the spectacle of election-year politics in the U.S. interfering with free trade is making some Australians angry. For instance, an editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald last week criticized the "Florida sugar mafia" and the "mid-western (sic) beef mafia" and the "lavish protection" that they now enjoy from Australian competition. And the Canberra government, which faces elections of its own this year, is talking tough. "Unless we get concessions on the agricultural front, then the free-trade agreement is not worth signing," said Howard on Jan. 26, Australia Day, a national holiday. The U.S. and Australia may be best of friends. But when it comes to the contentious issue of free trade, friendship may not be enough to get a deal done. story.news.yahoo.com