Legal Political and Ethical Dimensions of Business

Questions: 1. There has been a movement in the last decade encouraging people to buy American. Discuss the legal and ethical issues related to boycotting goods from other countries. What are the practical business implications of such a move? 2. The World Trade Organization, or WTO, is the largest and most influential of the trade organizations. China and other heavy counterfeiting nations are part of this group. What could WTO-participating nations do to address the problems of counterfeiting? What should they do? 3. The United Nations Security Council, the main decision-making body at the UN, is comprised of five regular members: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. Ten more members are elected from the General Assembly. Given the make-up of the committee, what type of action might the UN take with regard to the counterfeiting issue? Answers: 1. The section 2407 OF THE United States Code talks about foreign boycotts. This section indicates a message from the President of the United States of America that every American national should boycott goods made in foreign countries. The primary objective behind boycotting foreign goods is to promote local manufacturers and increase the economy of the country. Thus, some may perceive boycotting goods made by foreign countries which are better in quality and lower in price compared to the local goods as unethical and foolish rather than patriotic, while others may consider it to be reasonable. Therefore, the boycott of foreign goods is generally a matter of choice. Refusing or prohibiting another to refrain from using foreign goods or keep any association with foreign company is additionally a violation in freedom to trade and freedom of choice as a consumer. Thus, the business implications of boycotting foreign goods can encourage domestic trade and businesses but at the same time violate citizens right to choice as a consumer and also right to trade (Ambrose and Stephen 2010). 2. Counterfeiting is a termed used for intentional reproducing a copy of a genuine article or goods in order to mislead a buyer into believing that they are actually buying or purchasing a genuine product. The World Trade Organization initiated an Anticounterfeiting Enforcement Committee (ACEC) which suggested the following steps to combat Counterfeiting from member states like China:- Introduce collection of fines against countries which engage in Counterfeiting The said step not only suggested collection of fines from countries engaged in Counterfeiting but also suggested to device methods for calculation of fines and penalties for Counterfeiting. Enforcement of strict customs against trafficking of Counterfeited goods across borders The Anticounterfeiting Enforcement Committee (ACEC) suggested that laws in relation to trading of goods across border needs to be strict for managing and filtering trade of counterfeited goods (Jackson 2010). Introduction of statutory damages In most cases, the civil penalties and compensation are not sufficient to cover the actual losses a company suffers due to Counterfeiting of their produced goods, thus, Anticounterfeiting Enforcement Committee (ACEC) suggested the governments of member states of World Trade Centre to amend their trademark laws to include a pre-determined damage amount for counterfeited goods (Hawkins and Richard 2010). 3. United Nations is a global organisation which promotes international cooperation between countries. The primary objective of the most important organ of the United Nation is to make decisions which are in relation to global problems and crisis. These decisions are made by Security Council. The Security Council of the United Nation has recently adopted a campaignto create awareness about the evil effects of Counterfeiting. The United Nation aims to make countries realize that Counterfeiting is a crime which adversely affects government, customers and businesses. The United Nations shall impose a ban on goods which are counterfeited and imposes heavy penalties on countries that encourage Counterfeiting (Halperin et al 2010). Reference List Ambrose, Stephen E.Rise to globalism: American foreign policy since 1938. Penguin, 2010. Halperin, Arnold, Paul Andrew Moskowitz, Alejandro Gabriel Schrott, Charles P. Tresser, and Robert Jacob Von Gutfeld. "Method and system for preventing counterfeiting of high price wholesale and retail items." U.S. Patent 6,226,619, issued May 1, 2001. Hawkins, Richard A. "Boycotts, buycotts and consumer activism in a global context: An overview."Management Organizational History5, no. 2 (2010): 123-143. Jackson, Graham, Stefan Arver, Ian Banks, and Vera J. Stecher. "Counterfeit phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors pose significant safety risks."International journal of clinical practice64, no. 4 (2010): 497-504.