Thread: Gibson: Feds Want Guitar Woodwork Done by Foreign Labor

Gibson: Feds Want Guitar Woodwork Done by Foreign Labor


By Judson Berger
Published September 02, 2011

Gibson Guitar Corp. is claiming the Obama administration wants more of its woodwork done overseas, as a bizarre battle heats up between the government and one of the country's most renowned guitar makers.

The dispute started in 2009, when federal agents raided the company over suspect wood shipments from Madagascar. Gibson took that case to court but has denounced the administration with a vengeance after agents returned late last month to raid several Gibson factories -- this time out of concern that Indian export laws had been violated.

Though some reports on the dispute have cited environmental concerns, court documents suggest the latest battle boils down to a simple, non-environmental question -- which country is working on the wood?

Gibson's CEO has said repeatedly that the only reason his company is in trouble is because U.S. workers are completing work on guitar fingerboards in the United States. In an interview earlier this week, CEO Henry Juszkiewicz claimed that the U.S. government even suggested Gibson's troubles would disappear if the company used foreign labor.

The Justice Department is hamstrung from talking about the case because it's an ongoing investigation. Justice spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle told FoxNews.com only that agents were looking for evidence of "possible violations" of a law governing imports of plants and wildlife.

Hornbuckle also confirmed that no charges have yet been filed in either of the two cases.

Court documents help explain the root of the tree dispute. According to search warrants associated with the latest raid, federal agents in June intercepted a shipment of Indian ebony apparently bound for Gibson in Tennessee. The documents noted that Indian law "prohibits the export of sawn wood," which can be used for fingerboards -- but does not prohibit the export of "veneers," which are sheets of woods that have already been worked on.

The search warrants alleged that the intercepted shipment was "falsely declared" as veneer, something that would have been legal. However, the documents said the ebony was in fact unfinished "sawn wood," supposedly illegal.

This led to the raid on Gibson facilities late last month.

Juszkiewicz said in a statement that the U.S. government has effectively suggested "that the use of wood from India that is not finished by Indian workers is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because it is the Justice Department's interpretation of a law in India."

A representative at the Indian Embassy in Washington could not be reached for comment.

But Juszkiewicz has since claimed that his company's wood exports do in fact comply with Indian law, even if American workers are doing some of the work.

In an interview on the company website, Juszkiewicz said Gibson "for decades" has purchased fingerboard wood that is two-thirds finished.

"The fact that American workers are completing the work in the United States makes it illegal," he said, citing the government's position.

Juszkiewicz maintains Gibson is still complying with the law.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09 ... z1WtHWCje8

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Report: Gibson Competitor is Dem Donor; Uses Same Wood,
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"Intimidation through Regulation!"

This may not seem like that big of deal to young America, but those of us who've been here awhile know it's a very big deal! America we've dug the balls of our feet into the sand and managed to stop the overwhelming takeover of our country! It's time to "PUSH!"

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-247998.html[/img]

Are we not passing enough laws now and have they run out of laws to use to beat down the remaining resistance of Americans and American companies to the destruction of our economy and the American Dream and way of life in general? They are having to look to the laws of other countries to add to their arsenal. Does not seem to me any court in this country would have the jurisdiction to rule on the legality of any Indian law to begin with. The DOJ does not have enough to do , they are now in the business of enforcing the Laws of other Nations? Unless there were a ban in the U.S. on the import of " Sawn wood" , then leave it alone. Let the Indians make sure nothing is loaded on a ship that violates THEIR LAW.

Originally Posted by stevetheroofer

This may not seem like that big of deal to young America, but those of us who've been here awhile know it's a very big deal! America we've dug the balls of our feet into the sand and managed to stop the overwhelming takeover of our country! It's time to "PUSH!"

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-247998.html[/img]

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I completely agree. Gibson guitars are American icons and have always represented the quality of workmanship American Workers have become world renowned and paid a fair wage for.

What will we outsource next? Baby making?

What will we outsource next? Baby making?

We seem to be unwillingly importing those now!

Related Thread
Gibson Competitor is Dem Donor; Uses Same Wood,
August 21,2011
Briebart

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-248797-gibson.html+guitars

More globalists nefarious work to destroy this country and Americans as a free and separate nation and people any way they can. They are working hard to destroy American economy so that there can be no resistance to their plan. The American people and all the "underclass of the world in their eyes" be damned!

We need to push back indeed Roofer! And I believe Americans, though still too sleepy, are awaking in ever increasing numbers and wiseing up. Least I sure as hell hope so! The American spirit was not born easily but when it was, it became something to be reckoned with!

Get mad Americans, get off your duffs, get moving now!. Get involved or we all will lose big time!