There are many laws and regulations in America that prohibit people or businesses from economic espionage. The theft of confidential commercial, financial, or proprietary information is called economic espionage (Button, 2020). However, there are some exceptions to the rules that allow businesses to exchange sensitive information from foreign businesses or countries. The billions of dollars that economic spying costs the country compromises national security. Many foreign rivals target American industries and businesses with high economic intelligence. Sometimes, however, international organizations and unethical businesses cooperate to share information. InterTech Trading Corporation was found guilty of not submitting export documentation to Russia and Ukraine for equipment exported to Russia.
ITC Atkinson is an ITC-affiliated distributor of laboratory products based out of New Hampshire. For failing to provide export documentation to Ukraine and Russia for lab equipment, the business was found guilty of 14 crimes. The corporation concealed the truth by using misleading information in commercial invoices. In order to avoid reporting export information (2022), the US Department of Justice (US Department of Justice), the corporation devalued their exports. According to court records, the corporation misrepresented information about the quality and cost of lab equipment that was shipped overseas. ITC admitted in the plea agreement that it used harmless names to transport scientific equipment, including ‘welding spares’ and ‘aquarium sheep’ instead of the proper names. ITC’s business can be held responsible for up to $10,000 per count in each of fourteen criminal acts, plus two years probation and corporate monitoring.
ITC broke the Export-Import Bank’s (EEI), which requires all exporters to register. An exporter must include details such as sender and recipient of the goods as well as product description, ECCN and ECCN in the EEI information. EEI laws require firms that export goods to China, Russia and Venezuela to declare any item valued over $2,500 regardless of license requirements or intended use. ITC decided to intentionally ignore IEE requirements and discount or misdescribe exported goods.
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations of United States governs the IEE element. It was designed to manage international commerce due to the rise in counterintelligence and economic espionage. There is a high possibility that Russia or China could spy on the United States. The laws allow the government to inspect exports with other countries, especially China and Russia. Execution of this rule is up to the Department of Commerce. There are both mandatory and optional data elements in the rules. Mandatory EEI data field fields identify the person or entity that received the export’s greatest advantages. These include the country of origin and final consignee. The country of destination is also included. Also, the product value (Legal Information Institute, n. d). These conditional data elements include the names and addresses for authorized agents, intermediary consignes and FTZ IDs.