Boycotting: Who does it harm? [Archives:2002/23/Business & Economy]

MAHYUOB AL-KAMALI
YEMEN TIMES STAFF
The call for boycotting Israeli-US products flowing to the Yemeni markets has resulted in stark differences between Yemeni traders as well as consumers over the kind of products that should be boycotted.
The issue of national products that operate under a foreign parent company is still the crux of the problem.
Local consumers have been negatively influenced by the call for the boycott of Israeli-US products to the extent that people started boycotting national brands under the pretext that it deals with US-originated raw materials.
The religious community as well as other groups advocating boycott calls have helped streamline this trend. Yet, many local manufacturers are complaining from the wrong use of the boycotting weapon by some rival traders with a view to win the ongoing competition in the local market.
Traders say the objectives of the boycott have gone astray, especially with the existence of some local companies that deal with, for instance, Saudi or Egyptian companies that operate under Western licenses and enjoy relations with Israel. Nevertheless, these local companies in fact have no relations with Tel Aviv and appear to be paying the cost for this campaign.
Those traders accuse some local manufacturers producing the same products, they deal in, of being keen to dominate the local market and monopolize them. This, according to those manufacturers, will affect the future of the national industry.
Local consumers find themselves in a bad situation with regard to the issue still in question as to how extent boycotting is a wise move.
Traders, on their part, say that boycotting US-Israeli products is still weak and unyielding for many reasons including the following: Yemen still consumes US-originated wheat and it cannot boycott it; Yemen importers buy high quality US-made cosmetics, electronics, etc, with cheap prices and they cant substitute that from European markets; local manufacturers say that they cant find substitutes for the US products from other sources because they have long term contracts with these companies. A move to cancel these contracts will incur heavy losses on local manufactures.
Being in most cases unofficial in most Arab countries, the boycotting issue is still a controversial one. Thus, traders say that the government is supposed to initiate the adoption of a boycotting policy at the state level.
Moreover, local traders and manufacturers point out that boycotting national products that deal with US companies supporting Israel through a third party is more a harm to local, not foreign companies.

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