Discuss the complexity of the legal forces that confront international business.

International business is affected by many thousands of laws and regulations issued by states, nations, and international organizations. Some are at cross-purposes, and some diminish the ability of firms to compete with foreign companies.

Recognize the importance of foreign law.

Miscellaneous laws in host countries can trip up foreign businesspeople or tourists. Charges can range from not carrying an alien registration card to narcotics possession.

Explain contract devices and institutions that assist in interpreting or enforcing international contracts.

International contracts should specify which country's law and courts should apply when disputes arise. The UN's CISG and the EU's Rome Convention have established rules for solving contract disputes. Arbitration is an increasingly popular solution.

Recognize the need and methods to protect your intellectual property.

Patents, trademarks, trade names, copyrights, and trade secrets are referred to as intellectual properties. Pirating of those properties is common and is expensive for their owners. The UN's World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was created to administer international property treaties, as was TRIPS, a WTO agency with a similar purpose.

Recognize that many taxes have purposes other than to raise revenue.

Certain taxes have purposes other than to raise revenues. For example, some aim to redistribute income, discourage consumption of certain products, encourage use of domestic goods, or discourage investment abroad. In addition, taxes differ from country to country. Tax treaties, or conventions, between countries can affect decisions on investment and location.

Discuss enforcement of antitrust laws.

The United States and the European Union enforce antitrust laws extraterritorially. This is a concern for companies operating in many countries because of the complexity of dealing with so many laws in different jurisdictions.

Explain the risk of product liability legal actions, which can result in imprisonment for employees or fines for them and the company.

Product liability refers to the civil or criminal liability of the designer or manufacturer of a product for injury or damages it causes. In several ways, product liability is treated differently in the U.S. legal system than it is in other countries. For example, only in the United States does one find lawyers' contingency fees, jury trials of these cases, and punitive damages. Although the principle of strict liability has been adopted in Europe, defendants are permitted to use state-of-the-art defenses and countries can put a cap on damages. Product liability is virtually unknown in Japan.

Discuss some of the U.S. laws that affect international business operations.

Many U.S. laws affect international business operations, both of U.S. and of foreign companies. The United States applies federal employment laws to any U.S. company operating anywhere. This extraterritoriality means that U.S. companies operating in foreign countries are required to follow U.S. employment law as it applies to U.S. nationals. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act also apply to U.S. businesses in their foreign operations and to foreign businesses that conduct operations in the United States.