Senate: Defeated Proposal: 90 - Anti-Price Gouging Law

In light of the destruction of Hoshi no Iori, the Empire faces a food shortage of unprecedented magnitude. It is a sad but all to true fact that some individuals will seek to inflate their prices in an unrealistic fashion.

That being said, I propose the following:

Proposal: 90 Anti-Price Gouging

Purpose: To prevent unfair pricing of food items in the wake of the Battle of Yamatai.

Proposal: It shall be a violation of Imperial law for a person, or corporation to raise their prices from the prewar level by more than 25% and shall be punishable by a fine.

Motion to change: "It shall be a violation of Imperial law for a person, or corporation to raise their prices by more than 25% from their prices prior to the Battle of Yamatai and shall be punishable by a fine. The fine will be equal to the total amount of KS of each product in violation of this law, times 5000."

Purpose: Many prices have already risen since the start of the war, so to say that no corporation may "raise their prices from the prewar level by more than 25%" seems to be to extreme. Also, it seems necessary to include an exact method for determining the total cost of the fines.

Requires: Clarification on imported food pricing

Change to wording is Seconded.

Proposed addendum.
External corporations wishing to import food who engage in price gouging, (defined as price increases of 50% or more from those in place prior to the Battle of Yamatai), should be subject to a Tariff equal to the aforementioned punishment.

Clarification: This law does not affect the price of food sold by foreign corporations or individuals to Yamataian individuals, corporations, etc wishing to import food to Yamatai? E.g. a Nepleslian potato farm wants to sell at a higher price to a Yamataian merchant. Because it is on Nepleslian sovereign territory, this law has no effect?

While the use of tariff makes sense from a viewpoint of economics, a mid-war tariff may cause diplomatic issues. I would ask first that the nations allied against our common enemy be informed of the effort to make this change, and be given the option of pondering the law for themselves both domestically and for export -- or at least respecting our wishes and trying to work with us on this measure. It may take a bit more time, but may prove better for everyone, and be seen as a more cooperative option than issuing a tariff on another nation's industries without warning.

Even if it fails, at least we have extended a courtesy warning and tried other options first -- before employing a tariff, and we can apply it to our own exports as a sign of good will.

As for the domestic part of the clause, it would have my full support if appended to take into account special instances.

Such instances may include damage to factories or farmlands which make a product harder and more costly to produce, and a problem with materials. Such instances would have to be considered by the government on a case-by-case basis to determine validity.

I have found a legal and binding reason for Yamatai to exclude all foreign companies from this tariff.

The military alliance treaty (not sure what YE) between the DION and YSE states:

Free and unrestricted travel and trade, other than restricted technologies, to the other nation is allowed for citizens of both nations.

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Taken from here. To impose a tariff on foreign sellers or importers would be contra to the ratified treaty.

I withdraw the Tarriff clause, however, from the full treaty of YE 32.

Civilian

* Free and unrestricted travel and trade, other than restricted technologies, to the other nation is allowed for citizens of both nations.
* Persons crossing borders are subject to reasonable searches as a security measure, and will be required to follow that nation's laws.

This means that Proposal 90 is applicable to any Nepleslian who enters Yamatai.

This is still, arguably, a restrictive measure preventing free trade. I'm not convinced this can even be passed legally now. If we're supposed to respect a sovereign nation's domestic laws over international laws (or treaties like this) then, all a nation needs to do to ignore international restrictions is pass a domestic law superceding the international law it doesn't like. That's what this is starting to seem like.

While Yamatai's senate has approved the YSE-DION treaty of YE 32, it was never approved on the Nepleslian side and should be considered void until they approve it.

It should be noted that taking part in actions which go against a treaty we claim to support while it's awaiting approval from the other groups involved is most likely not the best way to indicate we're going to follow the treaty.

I agree that i would be unfair to impose the aforementioned sanction on Nepleslian corporations.

I hereby object to the proposed addendum to Proposal 90 regarding imposing economic sanctions on foreign bodies that commit price gouging.

I also move to extend debate by one week from today (since discussion regarding this proposal technically ended 6 days ago).

The proposal for the Tariff was already removed.

The treaty that Sigma was referencing clearly makes the legal statement that an Individual from Nepleslia who commits price gouging is in violation of the law.

Of course as Wes has pointed out that Treaty has yet to be ratified after more than a year by Nepleslia. So the first statement that Sigma was trying to use as an argument against the now withdrawn tariff would not be binding until the Treaty is.

So this proposal does not affect Foreign Corporations who commit Price Gouging.

Understood.

My vote is YES.

NO.

Goes against the free market policy.

NO.

There are plenty of left-over NH-29, use them to feed the masses.

My vote is NO.

I vote NO.
I agree with Sigma and DocTomoe.

NO.

Since it is the international aspect of the law with which there is apparent contest, I motion that Proposal 90 be split into two Proposals: Proposal 90-A and Proposal 90-B. I also motion to extend debate to as to give each due time matching that of a new proposal. One may be passed independently of the other.

Proposal 90-A will deal with our own domestic companies dealing with our own people, while Proposal 90-B will deal with the international aspect of the situation -- both clearly need separate and distinct consideration.

The following are my own versions of the proposals, though I welcome others to improve upon them. They are rather wordy and specific. Changes from the basic Proposal 90 are in italics.

Proposal: 90-A: Domestic Anti-Price Gouging

Purpose:
To prevent unfair domestic pricing of food, water, and medical supplies in the wake of the Battle of Yamatai and in future situations.

Proposal:
It shall be a violation of Imperial law for a person or corporation within Yamatai’s legal jurisdiction to raise prices on food, water, and medical supplies from the prewar level by more than 25% (adjusted for changes to the value of the Kikyou Satsu) and shall be punishable by a fine no less than the amount of money earned in violation of the law.

Exceptions may be given on a case-by-case basis by a court or obtained beforehand from a court, which may include:

- Damage or destruction of manufacturing or growing facilities directly impacting cost of production and requiring a proportional price increase

- Other unavoidable costs which must be proportionally reflected in final price

- A change in the value of the Kikyou Satsu (KS)

Those entities which request an exception to or are under investigation for violations of this law must submit to an extensive audit by one or more applicable Government Organizations.

Those entities which have been found in violation of this law without just cause or are actively on a pre-submitted exception must submit to two yearly audits -- one scheduled annually and one yearly surprise audit on any date without notice.

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Proposal 90-A is an expanded and domestically geared version of the original, with the following changes:

- Prices can adjust for transport costs as well as for change in the value of the KS over time

- Food, Water, and Medical Supplies are specifically stated to preserve the true intention of the Proposal

- More specific wording

- The fine’s minimum is defined

- Possible exceptions a court may look for are stated

- Audits by government agencies are permitted

Proposal: 90-B International Trade Anti-Price Gouging

Purpose:
To prevent Yamatai’s populace and corporations from causing others abroad or their fellow plebeians or citizens to fall victim to unfair pricing of food, water, and medical supplies in the wake of the Battle of Yamatai and in future situations.

Proposal:
It shall be a violation of Imperial law for a person or corporation within Yamatai’s legal jurisdiction to raise their prices on food, water, and medical supplies to other individuals, corporations, or nations from the prewar level by more than 25% (adjusted for changes to the values of the currencies involved) plus reasonable transport costs if shouldered by said entity, and shall be punishable by a fine no less than the amount of money earned in violation of the law, and may include the revoking of permits required for the sale of goods and/or permits required for import/export of goods.

It shall also be a violation of Imperial law for a person or corporation within Yamatai’s legal jurisdiction (hereafter referred to as the Distributor) to resell imported food, water, and medical supplies at prices more than 25% that of the prewar cost of the item or a comparable domestic equivalent, whichever is lesser in cost, adjusted for changes to the values of the currencies involved and transport costs if shouldered by the seller; and shall be punishable by a fine. It will be the responsibility of the seller to do proper research on their wares. This is punishable by no less than the amount of money earned in violation of the law, and may include the revoking of permits required for the sale of goods and/or permits required for import/export of goods.


Exceptions may be given on a case-by-case basis by a court or obtained beforehand from a court, which may include:

- Damage or destruction of manufacturing or growing facilities of the manufacturer directly impacting cost of production and requiring a proportional price increase

- Other unavoidable costs such as an increase in transport price which must be proportionally reflected in final price

- Changes in the value of the Kikyou Satsu (KS), other involved currencies, and/or their exchange rate

- A shortage of other fairly priced domestic and imported goods caused by an acceptable reason rather than by bad business practices

Those entities which request an exception to or are under investigation for violations of this law must submit to an extensive audit by one or more applicable Government Organizations

Those entities which have been found in violation of this law without just cause or are actively on a pre-submitted exception must submit to two yearly audits -- one scheduled annually and one yearly surprise audit on any date without notice.

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Proposal 90-B is a more elaborate version of 90-A, and prevents our people or citizens from price gouging internationally. Due to the inability to govern those outside our nation, however, the responsibility to prevent price gouging on imports has been placed upon the domestic distributors and vendors themselves. Special considerations unique to international distribution have been added as examples of possible exceptions.