If Mexico has no ban on DDT (a pesticide used in agriculture) and the USA has banned the use (but not the manufacture) of DDT, should a corporation buy land in Mexico, import DDT from the USA, grow larger crops, and export them to the USA?

CASE STUDY

Corporations often “vote with their feet” in terms of doing business where expenses are lowest and revenues are highest. Buying low and selling high is a basic economic formula for success that has motivated international trade in many ways over the centuries. This is popularly discussed when governments consider tax policies and is also applicable when they also consider the less obvious factor of environmental protections laws.

1. If Mexico has no ban on DDT (a pesticide used in agriculture) and the USA has banned the use (but not the manufacture) of DDT, should a corporation buy land in Mexico, import DDT from the USA, grow larger crops, and export them to the USA?
2. What ethical duties does the corporation have to the workers in Mexico, the neighboring landowners, and the USA consumers about the potential dangers of using DDT?
3. Is there an ethical duty of DDT manufactures related to their export of DDT to countries that do not ban its use as the USA does?
4. Do you agree that environmental protection laws are “less obvious” as suggested above? Why/why not?