At approximately 8:45 a.m. on August 24, federal agents raided Gibson Guitar Corporation facilities in Nashville and Memphis, making off with an estimated $1 million worth of Gibson property. Gibson’s alleged crime? Using imported wood from endangered trees. At least that’s what the company assumes the feds have in mind. Gibson hasn’t actually been notified of any charges against the company. In fact, according to a Gibson press release, they still haven’t been told on what charges “more than a dozen agents with automatic weapons” raided their factory and stole their property in November 2009. They’re being forced to sue in federal court to get their property back, and even there the government is stalling, having requested an indefinite stay of the case.

Both raids appear to stem from allegations that Gibson imported wood from foreign countries in violation of the Lacey Act. Originally enacted to prevent trafficking in endangered species, the act was amended in 2008 to include plants. According to the Rainforest Alliance:

the law makes it illegal to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any plant, with some limited exceptions, taken or traded in violation of the laws of the U.S., a U.S. State, or relevant foreign law. The U.S. government can use this law to impose significant penalties on individuals and companies who are found guilty of such acts.

Wood being a plant product, any company that imports any wood-based product must, as the Wall Street Journal put it, meet “every regulatory jot and tittle” of the country from which the wood was harvested — and, says Gibson, that applies “if you did not observe a law even though you had no knowledge of that law in a foreign country.” Moreover, because (in the words of the Rainforest Alliance) “the ban on illegal timber as defined in the Lacey Act amendments has not been supported by a clear framework of regulation that sets guidelines for importers, exporters and traders,” it leaves the government a wide range of discretion to persecute businesses that have run afoul of politicians, political appointees, and bureaucrats. Lew Rockwell may have been onto something when he suggested that the attacks on Gibson have precious little to do with preserving trees and much to do with the fact that the company “failed to bribe the right people in DC.”

The 2009 raid concerned wood imported from Madagascar, which the Justice Department maintains was obtained in violation of Madagascan law. “Gibson,” says the company’s press release, “has obtained sworn statements and documents from the Madagascar government and these materials, which have been filed in federal court, show that the wood seized in 2009 was legally exported under Madagascar law and that no law has been violated.”

This year’s raid seems to be about wood from India. The Justice Department “has suggested that the use of wood from India that is not finished by Indian workers is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because it is the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law in India,” Gibson explains. “This action,” the company hastens to point out, “was taken without the support and consent of the government in India.”

In other words, if the U.S. government thinks a U.S. company has violated a foreign law in the course of importing wood products, it then charges (or at least raids) that company under the Lacey Act, confiscating the company’s property and fighting tooth and nail to retain it. This happens whether or not the United States’ interpretation of the law agrees with the foreign country’s interpretation of it and whether or not the foreign country has made a formal request to the U.S. government to charge the company with a violation of its law.

Gibson, for its part, seems to have gone out of its way to comply with the Lacey Act, making sure that its wood complies with Forest Stewardship Council standards, which include ensuring that wood is harvested legally. In addition, the company has kowtowed to environmentalist heavyweights such as the Rainforest Alliance and Greenpeace. One would think this would gain the company some favor in Barack Obama’s Justice Department, but apparently not.

In an August 25 press conference Gibson chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz calmly but forcefully condemned the government’s actions and maintained his company’s innocence. The raid itself, he said, was “extremely troubling. What is more troubling is that the Justice Department’s position is any guitar that we ship out of this facility is potentially obstruction of justice and could be followed with criminal charges.”

Juszkiewicz noted the irony of conducting such an assault on Gibson at a time of high unemployment, saying the company had “hired over 580 American workers” over the past two years. “We are one company manufacturing in the United States that’s hiring people,” he added, “and yet the government is spending millions of dollars on this issue.” Should the government triumph over Gibson, it would end up forcing the company’s wood to be finished in foreign countries instead of in the United States, thereby depriving some Americans of employment in favor of foreigners.

“We feel totally abused,” Juszkiewicz remarked. “We believe that the arrogance of federal power is impacting me personally, our company personally, and its employees here in Tennessee. And it’s just plain wrong.”

Big importers like Gibson aren’t the only ones who have reason to find these raids troubling. The Journal reports that “musicians who play vintage guitars and other instruments made of environmentally protected materials are worried the authorities may be coming for them next.”

If you are the lucky owner of a 1920s Martin guitar, it may well be made, in part, of Brazilian rosewood. Cross an international border with an instrument made of that now-restricted wood, and you better have correct and complete documentation proving the age of the instrument. Otherwise, you could lose it to a zealous customs agent — not to mention face fines and prosecution. …

It’s not enough to know that the body of your old guitar is made of spruce and maple: What’s the bridge made of? If it’s ebony, do you have the paperwork to show when and where that wood was harvested and when and where it was made into a bridge? Is the nut holding the strings at the guitar’s headstock bone, or could it be ivory? “Even if you have no knowledge — despite Herculean efforts to obtain it — that some piece of your guitar, no matter how small, was obtained illegally, you lose your guitar forever,” [Quinnipiac University law] Prof. [John]Thomas has written. “Oh, and you’ll be fined $250 for that false (or missing) information in your Lacey Act Import Declaration.”

Thus, on top of all the unconstitutional environmental laws the federal government enforces, it is now attempting to enforce, at its own discretion and in excruciating detail, all other foreign countries’ environmental laws, even when those countries do not believe their laws have been violated.

Given this policy’s negative effects on Americans’ liberties and livelihoods, we may all be strumming the blues soon — probably on guitars made in countries with less overbearing governments than the one that presumes to lead the free world.

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rprew said:

What Gibson can do Outsource all guitar manufacturing to China. Then it won't matter what kind of wood is used in the guitars. They will also be built with slave labor, and what with "most favored" trade status, these guitars will be very cheap. Walmart will be willing to stock them and sales will go through the roof. The musical quality of their guitars will go down the proverbial sh--tter, but at least the Feds will be happy.

August 29, 2011

FretNot said:

none Maybe this will help some naive, self-absorbed musicians realize that liberals are actually not cool, and that they should start spending a little more time and money on preserving freedom and sanity in America.

August 29, 2011

Sorbell said:

Maestro It's awfully dismissive to use "Endangered Foreign Trees" in your headline, as if that doesn't matter. There is no such thing as a "foreign tree". If Gibson is using exotic wood illegally, then they deserve to be busted. If, as some say, this is a shakedown over some obscure labor law, then I'll concede my point! But no one seems to have all the facts here...

August 31, 2011

sixstring said:

can't see the forest for the "rights" of trees? sorbell, The government is not interested in protecting "endangered" species, they are interested in power over Gibson Guitar company and anyone else who stands in their way. Proof? Ok. Check out how the ham-handed hand of government wiped out the cod fisheries in New Foundland; chased the small fishermen out and replaced the more environment friendly local fishermen with those that overfished the grand banks to the near extinction of the cod. The lesson: stand back and realize that the world's problems can't be solved by giving up your rights to bureaucrats. http://www.thenewamerican.com/history/world/8717-netting-newfoundlands-prosperity

September 01, 2011

Eric A. said:

they got what it takes to take what you got Notice that no one is talking about Fender, who uses the same materials as Gibson. I heard Gibson's CEO last night on the radio; the government won't even let them see if their property (it is still theirs by the way) was being properly stored. Most likely the wood is now useless because it was not kept in a controlled environment. The fact that the courts will not tell the government to either prove their case or return their property (plus legal fees) smacks of a political shakedown of a company that didn't grease the right politicians. When it comes right down to it, all campaign contributions are is protection money.

September 01, 2011

modern patriot said:

This is disturbing, the fed is growing more and more forcefull Reading this story, I recall hearing about a raid carried out in the past year or so, maybe in California; group of agents with machine guns burst into a home searching for someone who forged a student loan application or what ever. I've heard stories of the federal police agents associated with the post office opening mail and using surveillance without following the rule of law (I cannot confirm this, still looking for verifiable documentation). Then there is the TSA and their airport security sexual harassment and child molestation. Now they are raiding American businesses and taking whatever they want, because they supposedly violated a law of a FOREIGN NATION, and the icing on the cake: the other country doesn't even care, nor have they made any grievance. For those who are quick to say "well Gibson may be wrong, we don't know" let me just say, I speak from experience, the Lacey act and the endangered wood species situation is simply another one for the government to exploit. I have worked in the woodworking industry for several years, and have personally dealt with some of the red tape of using exotic lumber. The Lacey act is well intention, and as someone who has a great appreciation of woodworking, particularly the many beautiful species that exist; I noticed right away when I first became familiar with it the potential for abuse. You have to think for a second, even the most exotic wood can be obtained legally from a producer who has grown the material in a sustainable fashion (farm, plantation, etc). It will likely be very expensive and in limited amounts. The Lacey act seeks to prevent the wild harvesting practices etc. No company with the experience, legal support, and experience (they've been around since way before the Lacey act, especially the amendment for plant species) would ever be so stupid or sloppy as to use material from a supplier without the right papers, so you can pretty much guarantee Gibson is clear. Especially when the article goes into detail about the governments claim that foreign law was violated. The government is blatantly ignoring the legal implication of the act in order to justify their own agenda. The really sad, really more scary than anything, is the fact that the judicial system, which should have been immediately involved with correcting the executive branch's abuse of the rule of law. Instead, it appears they are helping to stall the resolution of the matter, which is nothing more than the theft of property, to the tune of a million plus. That would be major jail time for you or me and the courts wouldn't hesitate a second to get that case under way. The Judicial system has been politicized to the point of illegitimacy.

September 01, 2011

Greg Butko said:

Gibson "Raid" I just watched some documentaries on the 9/11 terrorist attacks. There was an FBI spokesman saying that they had so many leads relating to terrorist threats, they were unable to follow up on the information provided by Special Agents in the field about known terrorists taking lesson flying airliners. Maybe if they spent less time "raiding" Gibson Guitar, farms selling raw milk, the producer of the "Ron Paul Dollars", and watching Walter Reddy, they would be more successful.

September 05, 2011

POed said:

Gibson didn't pay a bribe! Someone needs to see if the other makers gave to Obama's lampaign fund. Plus are the others all union shops? @Greg Butko you got that right and it was Clinton that ordered Reno to keep the CIA and FBI from talking to each other. It gave the terrorists an open field!! The iron fisted Feds. need to pull back a hammered fist!

September 05, 2011

Shiney said:

Jumping the Gun? Wow, and I thought the left were paranoid conspiricy therorists! Look, the law is the law and here us what I understand are some of the facts (sourced). In June 2011, the United States Department of Justice filed a civil case against Gibson, stating: "Gibson sourced its unfinished ebony wood in the form of blanks (for use in the manufacture of fingerboards for Gibson guitars) from Nagel (in Germany), which obtained it exclusively from Roger Thunam (a supplier in Madagascar). Madagascar prohibits the harvest of ebony wood as well as the exportation of unfinished ebony wood." The filing also made mention of internal emails from 2008 and 2009 that discussed ebony species from Madagascar and plans to harvest it. If this is true, Gibson is in the wrong. This seems to me that there may be a whistleblower at work here since there are internal company emails involved. Rprew, Gibson does, btw, make guitars in China. They are, sadly, called Epiphones and are sold at Target, not Walmart. Gibson sued Walmart several years ago. I would guess that if someone from another country were smuggling out wood from our mighty giant Redwood Forests, or buying it from someone who obtained it illegally, we would LOVE to see them prosecuted for taking it out of the U.S. And we would want it confiscated as well. If this wood is legal, Gibson should have, no problem proving it as, from what I've researched, the wood is stamped. If this is illegally obtained wood, as an American, I will be outraged that this CEO has blamed America because he tried to get by with something and got caught. Just like a little kid.

September 08, 2011

MemphisMickey said:

Republic, Rule Of Law I believe they are accused of breaking the Lacey Act. The Feds supposedly had enough evidence to obtain a Search Warrant. They executed the Search Warrant. Now the Feds have to prove it in court. The Lacey act is an act of Congress and Gibson is accused of breaking US law. I think the WHOLE Lacey Act should be repealed. But I think that people that break the law should be held accountable. Obey the law or break it and accept the consequences. Change the las if you don't like it. the Feds should protect our freedoms and liberties, but the Feds should NOT be able to choose which laws to enforce. They are bound by the constitution to enforce All Laws. Change the law. Repeal the Lacey Act!

September 22, 2011