Thursday, December 20, 2007
Barack Obama pledges to violate international law
Barack Obama says that if elected president he would ban all importation of toys from China. Yes, it is reckless pandering to protectionists, which is especially problematic insofar as protectionism is both naturally popular and hideously stupid. And, yes, it would mean that only the affluent would be able to afford the few toys made elsewhere, such as Sweden and Denmark. It is also, however, nothing less than a promise to violate our international trade agreements, a position curiously at odds with both lefty rhetoric about George W. Bush and Obama's own responses to questions from the American Society of International Law:
Promoting strong international norms helps us advance many interests, including non-proliferation, free and fair trade, a clean environment, and protecting our troops in wartime.
Recognizing that "fair trade" is protectionist code for "not quite free trade," a blanket ban on an entire segment of manufactures from another World Trade Organization member country, regardless of the specific manufacturer, is neither free nor fair and it certainly is not lawful.
The ugly truth is that few American politicians genuinely respect international law in the abstract -- they just disagree over which international law to violate.
The Peking Duck has more.
2 Comments:
By 
antithaca, at
Thu Dec 20, 11:25:00 PM:
Honestly, Obama's late to the game. We decided months ago that there'd be no toys from China under our Xmas tree.
For people who actually care about lead tainted toys going into the hands of their kids...and figured out they didn't need the Federal Government to help them...this is a complete non-issue. (aka, no toys from China).
For everyone else, it's something else.
By 
, at
Fri Dec 21, 11:36:00 AM:
It seems like every time he opens his mouth about a foreign power he says something stupid. Like how he'd invade Pakistan, remember that?
I don't think this guy has any business being chief executive. He'd embarrass himself and his country, and savvier foreign statesmen would walk all over him.
