thedrifter
05-14-08, 07:50 AM
Bill would ban sale of foreign-made flags
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 3:15 AM
The televisions Ohioans buy are made overseas, where labor is cheap. So are the majority of toys, video-game systems, computers, jeans and shoes.
But the American flag? Whoa there!
Engaging in what appears to be a growing national trend, an Ohio Senate committee is debating a bill that would require that all American or state flags sold in Ohio be made in the United States. Selling a foreign-made flag would subject a storeowner to a maximum 60-day jail term and $500 fine.
Robert Hoffman of Delaware urged lawmakers to pass the bill. His son, Sgt. Justin F. Hoffman, 27, was among 11 Ohio Marines in Lima Company killed in Iraq on Aug. 3, 2005.
"Unless you have stood before a flag-draped casket bearing the remains of your warrior son who gave his life in combat, you may never know of the pride and ideals that this flag instills in those of us who have," he recently told members of the Senate State and Local Government Committee.
"To allow foreign nations whose government expounds personal and political slavery to produce and import our great symbol of freedom is nothing short of disgraceful."
Tennessee passed a similar law in 2005, followed by Minnesota, Colorado and Wisconsin.
The United States imported about $5.3 million worth of foreign-made American flags in 2006, while domestic manufacturers shipped about $349 million in flags in 2002, according to the most recent economic census data.
In Ohio, state agencies have to buy Ohio and American flags produced by inmates in the state prison system.
State Sen. Joy Padgett's bill was slated for a possible committee vote last week but was pulled from the agenda after at least one senator raised concerns.
Padgett, whose district is home to a Coshocton-based Annin & Co. flag manufacturing plant, said she hopes to work out the concerns.
"I'm sort of a free-trade person," she said. "But I also believe in fair trade. It's about patriotism. It's about honoring our veterans and current soldiers."
Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, said the bill would lessen competition among flag producers and "might have the unintended consequence of actually raising the price of American and Ohio flags and making their display less likely."
Seitz also said the bill also could violate federal trade agreements, particularly the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which covers trade with China, the source of most of this country's foreign-made flags.
Daniel Chow, a law professor at Ohio State University with expertise in foreign-trade law, said that the United States generally cannot discriminate against foreign goods. Senate Bill 316 may violate that principle, he said, but the GATT has an exception for protecting public morals.
"For the flag, there might be an argument that there's a kind of public moral issue here," Chow said. Unless China would challenge the law with the World Trade Organization, nothing is certain, he said.
Gov. Ted Strickland supports Senate Bill 316. As a congressman, he repeatedly sponsored the Genuine American Flag Act, which would have prohibited the importation of U.S. flags for sale.
jsiegel@dispatch.com
Punishment would be a maximum 60-day jail term and $500 fine for storeowners.
Ellie
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 3:15 AM
The televisions Ohioans buy are made overseas, where labor is cheap. So are the majority of toys, video-game systems, computers, jeans and shoes.
But the American flag? Whoa there!
Engaging in what appears to be a growing national trend, an Ohio Senate committee is debating a bill that would require that all American or state flags sold in Ohio be made in the United States. Selling a foreign-made flag would subject a storeowner to a maximum 60-day jail term and $500 fine.
Robert Hoffman of Delaware urged lawmakers to pass the bill. His son, Sgt. Justin F. Hoffman, 27, was among 11 Ohio Marines in Lima Company killed in Iraq on Aug. 3, 2005.
"Unless you have stood before a flag-draped casket bearing the remains of your warrior son who gave his life in combat, you may never know of the pride and ideals that this flag instills in those of us who have," he recently told members of the Senate State and Local Government Committee.
"To allow foreign nations whose government expounds personal and political slavery to produce and import our great symbol of freedom is nothing short of disgraceful."
Tennessee passed a similar law in 2005, followed by Minnesota, Colorado and Wisconsin.
The United States imported about $5.3 million worth of foreign-made American flags in 2006, while domestic manufacturers shipped about $349 million in flags in 2002, according to the most recent economic census data.
In Ohio, state agencies have to buy Ohio and American flags produced by inmates in the state prison system.
State Sen. Joy Padgett's bill was slated for a possible committee vote last week but was pulled from the agenda after at least one senator raised concerns.
Padgett, whose district is home to a Coshocton-based Annin & Co. flag manufacturing plant, said she hopes to work out the concerns.
"I'm sort of a free-trade person," she said. "But I also believe in fair trade. It's about patriotism. It's about honoring our veterans and current soldiers."
Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, said the bill would lessen competition among flag producers and "might have the unintended consequence of actually raising the price of American and Ohio flags and making their display less likely."
Seitz also said the bill also could violate federal trade agreements, particularly the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which covers trade with China, the source of most of this country's foreign-made flags.
Daniel Chow, a law professor at Ohio State University with expertise in foreign-trade law, said that the United States generally cannot discriminate against foreign goods. Senate Bill 316 may violate that principle, he said, but the GATT has an exception for protecting public morals.
"For the flag, there might be an argument that there's a kind of public moral issue here," Chow said. Unless China would challenge the law with the World Trade Organization, nothing is certain, he said.
Gov. Ted Strickland supports Senate Bill 316. As a congressman, he repeatedly sponsored the Genuine American Flag Act, which would have prohibited the importation of U.S. flags for sale.
jsiegel@dispatch.com
Punishment would be a maximum 60-day jail term and $500 fine for storeowners.
Ellie