Word: bananas
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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There's something inherently smirk-inducing about a trade dispute over bananas. You've seen it in the papers in headlines like BANANA SPLIT or GOING BANANAS. But Clark Davis isn't laughing. One day the quality-assurance engineer was contentedly playing in the basement of his Wexford, Pa., home with his N-gauge model railroad--three lines spread over 36 sq. ft. of diorama, styled after turn-of-the-century Europe. The next day, Davis, 66, heard from his supplier of German-made Fleischman engines that not only could the price be doubling but the supplier's hobby shop...
...banana battle grows increasingly absurd as it threatens to spread to other food groups, from ham and cheese to wafers and waffles, and to such oddities as candles, cashmere sweaters and model trains. That's because the U.S. targeted for tariffs 17 European exports chosen to "gain the most leverage" over European protectionists. How? Mainly by targeting the British, French and Italians, who have pushed to restrict Latin bananas and to favor those grown in former European colonies, like Martinique and Cameroon...
Other interests eagerly crashed the party, seeing the banana dispute as a chance to settle old scores. U.S. pork producers, suffering through a severe price slump, sought to block the import of Italian hams like prosciutto. "The E.U. has closed off much of its market to us," reasoned Nick Giordano, a lawyer at the National Pork Producers Council. "We're looking for reciprocity, and one way to get it is nicking them on bananas." The council got pork added to the hit list. The hog farmers pushed to nail Dutch and Danish ham producers. But because those two countries...
Many critics asked, reasonably enough: Why is the U.S., which doesn't grow bananas, embroiled in a banana dispute with Europe, which also doesn't grow bananas? Answer: Before the E.U. imposed the current banana regime in 1993, non-E.U. companies controlled 95% of the European banana market. Since then, American companies like Chiquita and Dole have seen their European market share plummet 50%. Hardest hit has been Chiquita, which has lost money four of the past five years--the result, company officials insist, of being denied access to the European market...
...City and you are likely to be greeted by one or more store executives, who as a result of the store's new Ambassador Program have to spend at least two hours a week welcoming customers. Buy merchandise worth more than $100 during any weekend this holiday season at Banana Republic's main branch in San Francisco and the store will provide you with a lift home. Want to avoid the hassle of Christmas-gift buying altogether? Seattle-based Nordstrom's will give you a personal shopper, who will make selections while you sit in comfort and watch...