KingCondanomation
New member
Obama and Dems following Smoot-Hawley in the Great Depression which was oh so successful by encouraging tariffs and trade restrictions.
"IN JANUARY Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderón, became the only foreign leader to meet Barack Obama between his election and his inauguration. Their long lunch was a success. Mr Obama said afterwards that he would be “ready on day one to build a stronger relationship with Mexico.” According to one Mexican official present at the talks, the visitors felt reassured that Mr Obama would resist protectionist pressures and that the criticisms of the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA) he had expressed during the campaign could be dealt with in a trilateral review, involving all three North American countries, that would seek to improve the agreement rather than unpick it.
Just two months later, the honeymoon has soured somewhat. Mr Calderón has taken to lambasting American officials for allowing the illegal drug trade between the two countries to flourish, and to criticising the American media’s coverage of Mexico’s drug-related violence. Now a provision inserted into the Omnibus Appropriations Bill signed into law by Mr Obama has scrapped a pilot programme that allowed a small number of Mexican trucking companies to carry cargoes north of the border—as NAFTA requires.
Mexico’s response was swift. On March 18th it imposed tariffs of up to 45% on 90 American agricultural and industrial imports, ranging from strawberries and wine to cordless telephones. The list was carefully chosen to avoid pushing up prices of staples in Mexico while hitting goods that are important exports for a range of American states. That way, it could have maximum political effect north of the border. "
http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13331117
"IN JANUARY Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderón, became the only foreign leader to meet Barack Obama between his election and his inauguration. Their long lunch was a success. Mr Obama said afterwards that he would be “ready on day one to build a stronger relationship with Mexico.” According to one Mexican official present at the talks, the visitors felt reassured that Mr Obama would resist protectionist pressures and that the criticisms of the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA) he had expressed during the campaign could be dealt with in a trilateral review, involving all three North American countries, that would seek to improve the agreement rather than unpick it.
Just two months later, the honeymoon has soured somewhat. Mr Calderón has taken to lambasting American officials for allowing the illegal drug trade between the two countries to flourish, and to criticising the American media’s coverage of Mexico’s drug-related violence. Now a provision inserted into the Omnibus Appropriations Bill signed into law by Mr Obama has scrapped a pilot programme that allowed a small number of Mexican trucking companies to carry cargoes north of the border—as NAFTA requires.
Mexico’s response was swift. On March 18th it imposed tariffs of up to 45% on 90 American agricultural and industrial imports, ranging from strawberries and wine to cordless telephones. The list was carefully chosen to avoid pushing up prices of staples in Mexico while hitting goods that are important exports for a range of American states. That way, it could have maximum political effect north of the border. "
http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13331117
