My Take | ‘Communist Chinese garlic’ a threat to US national security?
- It’s no joke that Rick Scott, a Republican senator from Florida, is serious about investigating and banning imports of the vegetable into America
First it was banning sales of advanced computer chips. Then, it was disrupting industrial supply chains such as those for the production of electric vehicles. Now, Washington has opened a new front against communist China: garlic.
It could be a major disrupter to the Chinese economy, if Republican politician Rick Scott has his way. The senator from Florida has drafted two pieces of legislation to impose high tariffs and ban imports: the Sewage Garlic Imports Act and the Sewage Garlic Imports Tariff Act.
I swear on my late mother’s honour I am not making this up. I know I was once guilty of quoting from a dubious news source with a story claiming Republican Mike Gallagher – chairman of the US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party – warned that spying devices had been found hidden in shrimps imported from China.
OK, that was, as former and perhaps future president Donald Trump likes to say, “fake news”. But I did make it very clear I was quoting from a made-up story from The Onion, America’s No 1 satirical news outlet. I guess some of you were too serious for a philistine like yours truly. This one about garlic, though, is no joke. Don’t believe me? Do check out the senator’s official website.