“Löscher and his advisers normally like to boast about how they are role models when it comes to global business ethics. Nevertheless, they allowed July 1, the day the company stopped accepting orders from Iran, to pass without further comment. It was probably a good idea, in light of what allegedly happened a few days later at Frankfurt Airport, in a scene that hardly seems to fit to Siemens' image as a trailblazer in the art of ethical deals. According to customs officials at the airport, they intercepted a shipment of Siemens parts, including switches, switching components and computer modules, destined for a Russian customer. German authorities say that the Russian customer was supposed to forward the Frankfurt shipment through Moscow to its final destination, Iran's controversial nuclear reactor in Bushehr.” -Der Spiegel, August 9, 2010
“A year after German engineering giant Siemens AG pledged to retreat from Iran under international pressure, it is grappling with a thorny problem: a big jump in revenue in the Islamic republic.” -Siemens Business Surges in Iran, Wall Street Journal, April 5, 2011.
There could be issues with this.
I can see the Feds claiming that the states can’t conduct their own international trade policies. Wouldn’t be much different than if NY state wanted to raise tariffs on goods imported from a particular country.
Could you imagine of the countries that outlaw abortion stopped selling oil, or sending immigrants, to us?
We’d be living like the “Road Warrior”.