Illegal fingerboards? Maybe, according to the Justice Department's peculiar interpretation of Indian law.
Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz was a guest yesterday on The Dana Show and explained what led to the raid this week at two Gibson facilities where armed federal agents seized guitars, wood and company records, forcing Gibson to send hundreds of workers home. Due to the disruption in production at four factories, the company lost $1 million this week.
In the radio interview, the Gibson CEO first pointed out that this is not the first time the company has been subjected to a government raid. In 2009, the government seized $500,000 of Gibson's property, but the company was never charged with any offenses and Gibson is now suing the government to get its property back.
The current allegation is that Gibson has obtained illegal, partially finished, wooden guitar fingerboard blanks from India. Under Indian law, wood products have to meet certain minimum "India content" requirements before they can be certified for export. Then the exported wood and documentation from India has to be cleared by U.S. Customs. In this case, all of the legal requirements by the Indian government were met, legal paperwork accompanied the wood to the U.S., and the materials and accompanying paperwork were then approved by the U.S. government before delivery to Gibson.
But now the government is apparently claiming that according to its peculiar interpretation of Indian law, Gibson's fingerboard blanks don't have sufficient "Indian content," and the guitarmaker is in violation of Indian law.
In the radio interview, the Gibson CEO first pointed out that this is not the first time the company has been subjected to a government raid. In 2009, the government seized $500,000 of Gibson's property, but the company was never charged with any offenses and Gibson is now suing the government to get its property back.
The current allegation is that Gibson has obtained illegal, partially finished, wooden guitar fingerboard blanks from India. Under Indian law, wood products have to meet certain minimum "India content" requirements before they can be certified for export. Then the exported wood and documentation from India has to be cleared by U.S. Customs. In this case, all of the legal requirements by the Indian government were met, legal paperwork accompanied the wood to the U.S., and the materials and accompanying paperwork were then approved by the U.S. government before delivery to Gibson.
But now the government is apparently claiming that according to its peculiar interpretation of Indian law, Gibson's fingerboard blanks don't have sufficient "Indian content," and the guitarmaker is in violation of Indian law.
The Gateway Pundit summarized it well, "Gibson is under attack by the the Obama Justice Department for accusations that the company broke
Watch a press conference below with Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz (Note: It's outside and there's a lot of background wind and airplane noise):
HT: Juandos
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