Economic espionage, as discussed in Chapter 5, is the theft or misappropriation of valuable business information such as a trade secret.Trade secrets will be further discussed in Chapter 9.Economic espionage is a crime in the United States and is punishable under federal law by penalties not to exceed $500,000 or imprisonment for not more than 15 years or both.

This can occur in a manner that one may expect.That an employee of a company or government may try to obtain employment with another company in a position where they have access to trade secrets.This person would then copy the information and give it their original employer or their government.

Trade secrets are lost to governments and competing companies in other ways as well.For example, some countries might require that a company from a foreign country disclose its trade secrets in exchange for permission to do business in the country.

Should this be legal?If so, why?If not, why not and how should the international trade community address such demands