Trump is playing a dangerous game by requesting Canada to arrest the CFO of Huawei, and daughter of its founder, Meng Wanzhou. Her crime? She allegedly violated US trade sanctions against Iran even though she isn’t a US citizen.
For context, Huawei is a Chinese cell phone company.
Meng’s arrest was legalized kidnapping. It’s illegal for US-based companies or citizens to conduct business with Iran or other countries listed in OFAC. However, Meng is a Chinese citizen and Huawei is based in China so US sanctions against Iran shouldn’t apply to her.
Is US law now international law? Imagine if Singapore, on behalf of China, were to arrest Tim Cook or some other top executive of Apple for breaking a law that he isn’t legally bound by. There would be endless moral outrage and hypocrisy from the US.
JPMorgan Chase was in a similar situation for violating sanctions against Cuba, Iran, and Sudan. Twenty-nine other banks were also fined for breaching US law but none of their top executives were arrested.
There’s a US law that states companies who buy certain US origin technologies agree to not trade it with sanctioned countries. However, just because it’s the law doesn’t mean it’s morally right.
This sanction completely ignores the simple concepts of buying, selling, and property rights. If I sell computer technology to Iran it’s no longer in my possession because I agreed to sell it in exchange for money. Therefore, I cannot tell them what they’re allowed or not allowed to do with my product. It’s like buying a car and the dealership says you’re not allowed to resell it to people they hate.
Even if there’s hard evidence of Huawei committing fraud it still doesn’t justify arresting Meng or imposing economic sanctions in countries where most of its people are living in poverty.
This war against Huawei and other Chinese phone companies began under Obama with the NSA’s surveillance program. Huawei was accused of threatening national security by installing spyware on their phones. Ironically this accusation comes from an agency who is spying against US citizens.
Trump’s administration is setting a dangerous precedent and other countries might follow suit in retaliation. Trade relations between the US and China have worsened by this Huawei debacle after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a trade war ceasefire.
This article from MarketWatch lays out a strong, structured argument against the trade war. Although it’s an opinion piece, the author provides credible sources to back up his claims.