The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on June 13 that a Chinese manufacturer is not allowed to use the U.S. legal system to compel production of evidence in a private arbitration taking place overseas.
The high court held that federal district courts are unable to compel discovery in an arbitration case outside the United States governed by a private organization, even when an international treaty makes discovery a possibility, unless the nations in the treaty intended the arbitration panel to possess governmental authority.
The decision came in a complex case pitting a Hong Kong-based company against an American automobile parts manufacturer.
Luxshare, a Hong Kong limited liability company, manufactures consumer electronics, communications, and automotive products. Luxshare is sometimes called “little Foxconn,” after Taiwan-based Foxconn, a contract manufacturer of electronics in the Apple supply chain that has a large number of Chinese supplier locations….