Update: Gibson Guitars and the Lacey Act

I have posted in the past on the FBI raids at Gibson Guitar and on the Lacey Act, which was enacted to halt the trade in illegal wild game in 1900 and has expanded in its scope and complexity (click HERE and HERE to read previous posts). 

There is a new Wall Street Journal opinion article that reveals the politics involved in the raids at Gibson, which has yet to be charged and has denied the allegations of importing illegal exotic woods.  The article claims there is an agenda to hamstring and make examples of US business in order to stop and halt even the legal trade of exotic woods.

The WSJ opinion piece, entitled Stringing Up Gibson Guitar states

The story here is about how a toxic alliance of ideological activists and trade protectionists deliberately set about creating a vague law, one designed to make an example out of companies (like Gibson) and thus chill imports—even legal ones.

The Lacey Act was passed in 1900 to stop trade in illegal wild game. Over the years it has expanded, and today it encompasses a range of endangered species. It requires American businesses to follow both U.S. and foreign law, though with most Lacey goods, this has been relatively clear. Think elephant tusks, tiger pelts or tropical birds.

That changed in 2007, when an alliance of environmentalists, labor unions and industry groups began pushing for Lacey to cover "plant and plant products" and related items. Congress had previously resisted such a broad definition for the simple reason that it would encompass timber products. Trees are ubiquitous, are transformed into thousands of byproducts, and pass through dozens of countries. Whereas even a small U.S. importer would know not to import a tiger skin, tracking a sliver of wood (now transformed into a toy, or an umbrella) through this maze of countries and manufacturing laws back to the tree it came from, would be impossible.

Furniture maker Ikea noted that even if it could comply with the change, the "administrative costs and record-keeping requirements" would cause furniture prices to "skyrocket." The wood chips that go into its particleboard alone could require tracking back and reporting on more than 100 different tree species.

Which is exactly what the Lacey expanders wanted.

Click HERE to read the full WSJ article.