Exploiting U.S. Courts
Foreign companies like MediaTek abuse U.S. legal loopholes to harass competitors. If left unchecked, this could open the door for foreign corporations to maintain market dominance while taxpayers fund the very courts that are being used to raise their prices on household items, like electronics.
Real-World Example: MediaTek's Patent-Troll-for-Hire Scheme
MediaTek — a Taiwan-based company and the dominant player in the TV chip market — paid patent trolls Future Link and IPValue $1 million to file lawsuits against its U.S. competitor Realtek. The payment was guaranteed regardless of whether the suits had any merit. Against this backdrop, MediaTek warned Realtek’s customers about "supply chain risks," attempting to cause reputational damage and redirect business to itself while hiding its role in orchestrating the attack.
agree the U.S. should worry about foreign firms exploiting the legal system
are concerned that foreign companies would gain an advantage over U.S. companies
support cracking down on shell companies used to mask real parties in litigation
Source: Fabrizio Ward Survey, 2025
National Security and Economic Sovereignty Issues
Foreign companies that exploit American courts to eliminate competitors can obtain unfair monopolistic control over critical supply chains, undermining both national security and economic independence. When companies like MediaTek reinforce their market dominance through anticompetitive actions, they create dangerous supply vulnerabilities. This directly contradicts U.S. interests, such as the U.S. government's $10B equity investment in Intel and broader efforts to prevent single points of failure in semiconductor supply chains. This abuse allows foreign entities to use American taxpayer-funded institutions against American interests, creating dangerous dependencies while extracting maximum profits from captive U.S. markets.
