Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Which side is ours?

In today's BBC business news:   (link)
"The International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Apple infringed on a Samsung patent, which could mean some older models of the iPad and iPhone are banned from sale in the US. The patent relates to 3G wireless technology and the ability to transmit multiple services correctly and at the same time.
Apple said it plans to appeal. The ruling could also be reversed by a US presidential order within 60 days."

What an odd bit of phrase: "...could also be reversed by a US presidential order within 60 days."

Why might that happen? Why tell us this? We're now prepared for what might seem corrupt. 

Inside words:  The fix is in.

Is this America vs. Korea? No.
Apple Inc.has most of its production abroad, and "owes" large amounts to offshore entities (thus neatly avoiding much American taxation) - Apple's core is foreign... as American as apple barley pudding.

This week (link) US Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, cut heartlessly into Apple Inc.:   "Apple’s products are justifiably well known and used throughout the world. What may not be so well known is that Apple also has a highly developed tax avoidance system – a system through which it has amassed more than $100 billion in offshore cash in a tax haven. ... Apple Inc. has created three offshore corporations, entities that receive tens of billions of dollars in income but which have no tax residence - not in Ireland, where they are incorporated, and not in the United States, where the Apple executives who run them are located. Apple has arranged matters so it can claim that these ghost companies, for tax purposes, exist nowhere. One company has paid no corporate income tax to any nation for the past five years; another pays tax to Ireland equivalent to a fraction of one percent of its total income... The offshore tax avoidance tactics ... offload Apple’s tax burden onto other taxpayers – in particular, onto working families and small businesses."

In other words, Apple vs. Samsung -- Foreign Firms Fight for Funds