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The allegations against Huawei aren't that it "imported goods into Iran." The allegations are that it imported American goods into Iran, which is clearly a viol

The allegations against Huawei aren't that it "imported goods into Iran." The allegations are that it imported American goods into Iran, which is clearly a violation of US export laws. If such laws didn't apply to third-party distributors of American goods, then the only effect of US sanctions would be have foreign distributors exporting American goods rather than American ones. Huawei appears to have known this as well seeing as Meng Wanzhou had fraudently misrepresented the relevant transactions to the banks it was working with. There was nothing extralegal about Meng Wanzhou's arrest.

DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
The allegation is not quite that Huawei imported American goods into Iran. The accusation is that Huawei misled a non-American bank, HSBC, about its relationship with Skycom, a company that is accused of importing some American office computers into Iran. The US alleges that Huawei essentially controls Skycom, and that it hid this from HSBC, a British bank. Since HSBC does business in the US, it would not be allowed to give loans to Huawei. You can start to see how far-reaching American sanctions are. A British bank is being told that it cannot do business with a Chinese company, because that Chinese company allegedly controls a Hong Kong company that imported small numbers of American goods into Iran. As I understand it, these sorts of extensive secondary sanctions are not normal, and are a sore point between the US and many countries, including some of its allies (such as France and Germany). I would be very interested to know what gives the US any jurisdiction to demand the arrest of a foreign executive on foreign territory, for acts committed on foreign territory. Whatever the legal justification, though, this is a very unusual and aggressive step, and one that is transparently motivated by political considerations in the ongoing trade war.
- JumpCrisscross 7y ago
  > what gives the US any jurisdiction to demand the arrest of a foreign executive on foreign territory, for acts committed on foreign territory She violated American laws with American products using U.S. dollars for years. She then travelled to an American ally. This is a stupid counter argument.
  - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
    Where does the US have jurisdiction? This is a legitimate question. What legal right does the US government have to enforce US laws on a foreigner who isn't in the US, for actions taken outside the US and which were not illegal in the country the person resides in? I'd legitimately like to know what sort of legal argument is used to justify this, because it sounds like a massive overreach by the United States. Regardless, arresting the CFO of a major corporation - the daughter of the CEO - in such a manner is an extremely aggressive act.
    - threezero 7y ago
      The US has a reciprocal agreement with Canada. These agreements are the basis for jurisdiction.
      - Scoundreller 7y ago
        I always wonder how mutual these agreements are. Probably more like “Sign this agreement or else”.
      - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
        I'm not just asking why Canada is handing over the Huawei CFO. I'm asking how the US has jurisdiction to even prosecute the supposed underlying crime. The connection of any of her actions to the United States is extremely tenuous and indirect. They occurred outside the United States, were legal in the country where they occurred, she doesn't work for an American company, she's not an American, and she wasn't even dealing with an American company. Just imagine what it would be like if every country began applying its domestic law extraterritorially in such an aggressive manner.
    - locknumber110 7y ago
      >Where does the US have jurisdiction? Wherever someone might have a real nice country there. Be a shame if a coup happened to it. It's so easy to have an accidental coup, ain't it? I mean, one day you're electing a populist left-of-center leader who's a bit too much of a "world citizen" if you catch my drift, and the next day you've got a business-friendly provisional government managing the crisis by arranging national asset sales to US companies after some lone-wolf bodyguard puts a bullet into that vaguely-leftist president's head and then "kills himself" while in custody. These things just sometimes happen. Be a shame if that happened to your country.

DiogenesKynikos 7y ago

The allegation is not quite that Huawei imported American goods into Iran. The accusation is that Huawei misled a non-American bank, HSBC, about its relationship with Skycom, a company that is accused of importing some American office computers into Iran. The US alleges that Huawei essentially controls Skycom, and that it hid this from HSBC, a British bank. Since HSBC does business in the US, it would not be allowed to give loans to Huawei. You can start to see how far-reaching American sanctions are. A British bank is being told that it cannot do business with a Chinese company, because that Chinese company allegedly controls a Hong Kong company that imported small numbers of American goods into Iran. As I understand it, these sorts of extensive secondary sanctions are not normal, and are a sore point between the US and many countries, including some of its allies (such as France and Germany). I would be very interested to know what gives the US any jurisdiction to demand the arrest of a foreign executive on foreign territory, for acts committed on foreign territory. Whatever the legal justification, though, this is a very unusual and aggressive step, and one that is transparently motivated by political considerations in the ongoing trade war.

JumpCrisscross 7y ago
> what gives the US any jurisdiction to demand the arrest of a foreign executive on foreign territory, for acts committed on foreign territory She violated American laws with American products using U.S. dollars for years. She then travelled to an American ally. This is a stupid counter argument.
- DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
  Where does the US have jurisdiction? This is a legitimate question. What legal right does the US government have to enforce US laws on a foreigner who isn't in the US, for actions taken outside the US and which were not illegal in the country the person resides in? I'd legitimately like to know what sort of legal argument is used to justify this, because it sounds like a massive overreach by the United States. Regardless, arresting the CFO of a major corporation - the daughter of the CEO - in such a manner is an extremely aggressive act.
  - threezero 7y ago
    The US has a reciprocal agreement with Canada. These agreements are the basis for jurisdiction.
    - Scoundreller 7y ago
      I always wonder how mutual these agreements are. Probably more like “Sign this agreement or else”.
    - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
      I'm not just asking why Canada is handing over the Huawei CFO. I'm asking how the US has jurisdiction to even prosecute the supposed underlying crime. The connection of any of her actions to the United States is extremely tenuous and indirect. They occurred outside the United States, were legal in the country where they occurred, she doesn't work for an American company, she's not an American, and she wasn't even dealing with an American company. Just imagine what it would be like if every country began applying its domestic law extraterritorially in such an aggressive manner.
  - locknumber110 7y ago
    >Where does the US have jurisdiction? Wherever someone might have a real nice country there. Be a shame if a coup happened to it. It's so easy to have an accidental coup, ain't it? I mean, one day you're electing a populist left-of-center leader who's a bit too much of a "world citizen" if you catch my drift, and the next day you've got a business-friendly provisional government managing the crisis by arranging national asset sales to US companies after some lone-wolf bodyguard puts a bullet into that vaguely-leftist president's head and then "kills himself" while in custody. These things just sometimes happen. Be a shame if that happened to your country.