Fair Trade?

China, on June 9th, rejected a shipment of pistachio nuts from the United States because they said it contained ants. However, there has also been some speculation that this may be in retaliation for some shipments rejected by the US due to safety concerns.
So let me get this straight. We get a shipment of wheat gluten from China that has been tampered with to increase the value of the wheat. That contaminated wheat gluten is then shipped to various pet food manufacturers, and the contaminants end up killing dozens of animals throughout the US. Additionally, some pigs are found that have eaten feed with this same contaminant, which could have ended up in our own food supply, and theoretically killed dozens of people….

And China wants to “retaliate”…

Does this sound like a fair trade? They can ship us poison, and expect us to simply accept their contaminated cargo even though it has been proven deadly, and then they want to retaliate?

Something is seriously wrong with our trade agreement with China when they feel free to poison our animals (and possibly our people) for their own profit.

You can email Alan at alan@alanfernald.com twenty-four hours a day.