International Business Law and Ethics

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International Business Law and Ethics

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Table of Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................................2
Part A..........................................................................................................................................3
Part B..........................................................................................................................................5
Part C..........................................................................................................................................8
References................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The first case study deals with the recent trade ban imposed by Donald Trump on Huawei,
which is the second largest smartphone manufacturer, which leads to restricting the
organisation from doing business with any US-based companies. Huawei heavily relies on
US-based companies such as Google, Qualcomm, and Intel since their hardware and
software are used in its products. This decision is taken since it is alleged that the company
is using its products to spy on the US government, stealing trade secrets and listing to the
conversations of US military officials. However, this decision not only affects Huawei, but it
also affects over 200 million consumers of the company. The second case study deals with
the validity of the electronic contract formed between Kettle Black and PuriTea for the
purchase of tea bags. This case study deals with the validity of their electronic contract and
whether the provisions of UN Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in
International Contracts (ECC) and the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale
of Goods (CISG) apply on this case.
The provisions gave under UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures (MLES) regarding
the validity of electronic signature in this case will be analysed as well. The issues relating to
the validity of the second contract and the contract formed by Kate is considered as valid or
not will also be analysed in this case. In the third case study, the issues regarding dispute
settlement through international arbitration have raised because Wicks has provided wrong
scented candles to Styled. The arbitration award given by New York Convention in favour of
Styled is enforceable or not as per the provisions of the “Convention on the Recognition,
and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards” (New York Convention) will be discussed along
with the evaluation of contractual consequences since Styled is not legally incorporated in
Canada. A choice between arbitration and litigation will be made on behalf of Wicks and
Styled to resolve the issue of breach of intellectual property (IP).

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Part A
Answer 1
The issue is whether the decision made by Trump to protect the privacy of citizens of the US
from a potential breach is considered as ethical or not.
The principles of the Utilitarianism ethical approach argues that ethical actions are focused
on achieving greater happiness for a significant number of people (Shafer-Landau, 2012).
This theory is also referred as consequentialism since it emphasises on the importance of
consequences of actions while determining their morality rather than the legality of the
actions themselves. As long as certain actions lead to positive consequences, they will be
considered as ethical despite the fact that they violate certain duties (Shafer-Landau, 2012).
Trump has taken the decision while taking into consideration the interest of millions of
people that live in the United States. Although the interest of 200 million customers who
have purchased the devices of Huawei will be affected as well; however, protection of
privacy of millions of users is far more importance since the customers of Huawei will be
able to purchase new devices, but protection of privacy, trade secrets and military
information is greater happiness since it could potentially harm millions.
To conclude, the decision of Trump is supported by the Utilitarianism ethical perspective.
Answer 2
The issue is which ethical position Huawei can rely on in order to make an argument against
the decision of Trump to restrict Huawei.
Opposed to the Utilitarianism ethical perspective, the Deontology ethical theory argues that
the ethical nature of actions of parties are determined based on the fact whether they have
violated any legal or moral duties or not rather than their consequences (LaFollette and
Persson, 2013). Immanuel Kant argued that in order to act morally, it is important that
individuals must comply with their duties rather than focusing on the consequences of their
actions or achieving greater happiness. This theory emphasises on the importance of
“maxim” which defines the reason for which a person makes a decision.