India promises Apple tax-free iPhone parts imports in exchange for expanded manufacturing

This is typical in almost all countries and has been abused in the US by just about every large company (Apple included). Why does the EU feel so slighted when everyone is doing exactly what Apple has done in Europe? They provide a lot of employment in exchange for lower operating expenses. India knows this so why doesn't the EU understand. 

It's always been called greasing the wheel (and other things).

rob53 said:

This is typical in almost all countries and has been abused in the US by just about every large company (Apple included). Why does the EU feel so slighted when everyone is doing exactly what Apple has done in Europe? They provide a lot of employment in exchange for lower operating expenses. India knows this so why doesn't the EU understand. 

It's always been called greasing the wheel (and other things).

The difference is, European law prevents (or is supposed to) any single country benefiting over others by unfair means. Countries within the EU must be as one and not compete across borders. We all signed up to this as an extension of the common market etc. In theory, it means the wealth is spread, each country benefits equally as no single country gets everyone's business by having low taxes or favorable deals. The downside is, it puts everyone within the EU at a disadvantage to those outside of it.

adm1 said:

rob53 said:

This is typical in almost all countries and has been abused in the US by just about every large company (Apple included). Why does the EU feel so slighted when everyone is doing exactly what Apple has done in Europe? They provide a lot of employment in exchange for lower operating expenses. India knows this so why doesn't the EU understand. 

It's always been called greasing the wheel (and other things).

The difference is, European law prevents (or is supposed to) any single country benefiting over others by unfair means. Countries within the EU must be as one and not compete across borders. We all signed up to this as an extension of the common market etc. In theory, it means the wealth is spread, each country benefits equally as no single country gets everyone's business by having low taxes or favorable deals. The downside is, it puts everyone within the EU at a disadvantage to those outside of it.

The Socialist Union of Europe (aka EU). Here in the U.S. (a union of nominally sovereign states) individual states are always competing with each other to lure business and investments. Maybe Europe should try it some time instead of worrying about ‘fairness’ and ‘wealth distribution.’ 

Can they keep the power on long enough to produce phones?

sog35 said:

Nice. 

In the meantime, in the US, our resident bozos in Washington DC -- to whom we send $4 trillion every year -- are talking about imposing a border adjustment tax on transactions like these. Not that such a proposal will succeed, but it shows how stupid we are in our conversations compared to others, even developing countries.