Thailand was absolutely hammered by the tsunami last month. But the EU said it will not relieve tariffs on Thai shrimp (Thailand's major fishing industry) unless the Thai purchase 6 of the uberjumbo Airbus A380s -- a cost of 780,000,000GBP or about $1.48 billion. Thai shrimp ("prawns" in the UK) are taxed at a rate of 12%.
And the US? Well, we have not demanded a massive airplane purchase, but US tariffs on Thai shrimp are 97% because the US is "protecting" its shrimp-catching industry from the immeasurably more efficient Thai shrimpers.
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