Someone let me know why we trade with China and not Cuba? China has an awful human rights record who still currently restricts religion, unbiased media and expression in their country.
We don't trade with Cuba because the exiled Cuban community in Florida insists we don't trade with Cuba, because they hate Castro and want to hurt him. No President is going to (*)(*)(*)(*) off the Cubans because Florida is a swing state and Cubans are a swing constituency. My theory is that Clinton's kidnapping and deportation of Elian Gonzales made the difference in the 2000 election. Gore might have won except for that. He lost by some 700 votes in Florida.
QFT, as inconsistent as it may be with our China policy. We're only hurting ourselves with this silly boycott as Canada, Western Europe and South America trade with Cuba. Silly.
How many $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ do I have to put to have enough characters for a post? Ideologically we were against communism. Until the Chinese agreed to let US companies profit off of their brand of communism. So, still...ideologically we are against teh communists...in Cuba...because they have no money.
I'm curious as to why we have trade agreements with countries that do not compete on the same playing field we do. We have a minimum wage, they don't. We have environmental regulations, they don't. We have strict work place rules, they don't. We have workers comp, they don't. We have patent laws, they don't honor them. Truth is, our corporations have corrupted government. Entitlements have corrupted the people.
While I understand your point (and mostly agree), should the countries of Western Europe refuse to trade with us if we don't match the benefits they associate with employment?
I would guess that we closely resemble Europes regulations. Though we do not compensate in the same way, our taxes and compensation are somewhat equal. To be clearer, we tax less, but have to pay out of pocket for simular compensations, IMO, its a wash.
Yeah, and at one point in history, someone else gave them dangerous weapons. Well, loaned them to them anyway.
Sadly, the Chinese labor laws they enacted in 2007 are actually somewhat stronger than our own. Thus far, they are pretty ineffective at enforcing them (just as we are horrible at enforcing ours.)
Marcny, that is a very easy question to answer. There are many Cuban nationals who reside in Florida and they are very powerful politically. The Democrats and Republicans who represent the Cubans in Florida don't dare renew trade relations with Cuba because if they do, they will be voted out of office. When Castro and his hand-picked brother eventually lose power in Cuba and democratic elections are restored, many of the Cubans in Florida will move back to their homeland. Case close, question answered!
Our environmental regulations are quite different in some specific areas (I did construction management in Germany for 8 years and my son is doing the same now). Their regulations concerning groundwater and soil contamination are far beyond ours. France has banned fracking. Should we have to ban fracking to trade with France? Carrying it to the extreme (or maybe not), if they impose much stronger CO2 controls than we do, are they thereby entitled to charge import tariffs to compensate for cheaper costs of manufacturing here associated for us not using "green" energy sources?
I've read through chinas labour laws of 1995. They do have minimum wage laws. Shanghai's mayor, Han Zheng, confirmed last week that the city was preparing for an April 1 increase in the city's minimum wage, by more than 10 percent over the current monthly 1,120 yuan (US$170). Beijing has announced its minimum wage will rise by 20.8 percent this year. Jiangsu, an affluent region adjacent to Shanghai, is hiking its minimum monthly pay by 15 percent and Guangdong, by about 19 percent in March to 1,300 yuan (about US$200) — the country's highest. WIKI. Tens of thousands of Chinese workers are killed in workplace accidents each year because the communist nation relies on local authorities to enforce national safety guidelines, which companies and local governments routinely ignore for the sake of production. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/8/in-china-workplace-deaths-a-small-cost/ Not really in line with the US.
None of the Cubans.. not the Batista crowd or the later criminals, are going back to Cuba. What's your problem with parental rights?
2005 laws. Suggest: McLaughlin, K. E. "COST IMPACT OF CHINA LABOR LAW TOUGH TO ASSESS." WWD (2007): 3. Academic OneFile. Web. 11 Dec. 2010
we do trade with Cuba http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/04/politics/main1009953.shtml http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/cuba/cuba.asp
China has over a billion people more than Cuba. Cuba couldn't handle $1 trillion worth of productivity if they tried!
If the US opened trade with Cuba it would become the hospital of the US as all the old people in Florida and elsewhere flocked there on cheap flghts to get low cost medical care. Cuba could fund its economic development from Medicare alone.
