Ask a local councillor how much flak they will take if a food cart operator sets up shop on the sidewalk outside a tax paying restaurant. Most cities have limits on food carts for that reason. Car manufacturers often have limits to how many vehicles they're allowed to export to some countries. Canada's own softwood lumber and beef industries were held back significantly by the US when the low Canadian dollar provided a major cost advantage to Canadian producers.
Trade agreements are full of limits to provide balance and protect BOTH sides when there's a possibility for one party to take advantage over the other (i.e. one is much bigger than the other, or one is more heavily subsidized / less regulated than the other). There may not be a cheque being written, but the cost advantages that Gulf carriers enjoy with both a significantly lower tax advantage and a pool of very cheap unskilled labour (best described by grizzled above) is every bit as good as a cheque from the government in terms of providing cost advantages. And in a democratic country where the government does have to answer to its people, one of the considerations is always going to be how opening up markets to foreign businesses will be perceived by the tax paying / voting public. Only one of the governments in this dispute is faced with that particular reality.
Last edited by J.O.; 4th Nov 2010 at 20:36.