Legal Aspects Of International Trade And Enterprise Essay.

RioTinto

Describe about the Legal Aspects of International Trade and Enterprise.

The multinational companies play a significant role in ensuring that they market their products to various regions and countries. They control the production of the commodities in different countries other than the home country. The management is very organized to ensure that all the operations run smoothly and the clients are served well. The branches are vital to cater for the customers and also increase the income generated. It is the duty of the managers to ensure that they undertake their responsibilities well for the success of the company. The headquarters of the corporation handles all the processes and the challenges affecting the branches. The management of every branch is required to report the progress of the organization from time to time to the headquarters. It ensures that there is good flow of communication and the challenges arising are addressed accordingly. The company is required to make sure it does go against the laws and regulations of a particular country. They are expected to comply with the rules and also pay up taxes as stipulated by the law. The failure will lead to the ban of carrying out the business in the country by the court of law or else face heavy fines. The discussion outlines about the RioTinto multinational company.

The company is leading global mining group that is focused on finding, mining and the processing of various earth’s mineral resources. The primary goal of the institution is delivering strong and sustainable shareholder returns from the various projects that it undertakes. It deals with the operations that are expandable and of low cost throughout the lifecycle. The organization has a disciplined approach that is long term to ensure it serves its clients to the best. In addition to that, the corporation has over 55,000 strong workforces that help in the running of the operations in over forty countries. It is a powerful team that is highly committed in ensuring that all the tasks run smoothly (Birkinshaw, 2003). The extraction of the mineral resources is very risk and maximum safety measures are put in place to ensure the employees are safe at all times. The safety of the workers is the primary concern of the organization. The management also fosters a culture of innovation that ensures the employees and other staff members are proud to achieve and learning new things from time to time. The RioTinto Company is headquartered in the United Kingdom and is comprised of the Rio Tinto plc that is in London and New York Stock Exchange listed corporation. The Rio Tinto Limited is also among the group and is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Moreover, it is highly represented in Australia and North America, and various enterprises in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2010). 

The global presence of the corporation makes it get more customers and therefore generating more income to run its activities. The expertise in technology and marketing strategies helps the business to supply the quality products at the required time. The organization businesses comprises of open pit and underground mines, mills, refineries, smelters and power stations that have a reliable hydropower portfolio (Heidenriech, 2012). In addition to that, it has various research and service facilities that help the professionals come up with conclusions regarding a particular entity. It also owns and operates various infrastructures that deliver the commodities to the clients such as the railways, ports and ships (Gabel & Bruner, 2003). The corporation supplies metals and minerals that assist the world in its growth. The major products include aluminum, copper, diamonds, iron, gold, coal, uranium and industrial minerals such as titanium dioxide, salt and borates. The metals and minerals are transformed to the end products that contribute to the high living standards and economic development. The fundamental infrastructures of the cities are aided by the iron ore that is mined by the organization. Moreover, it has helped in the creation of the smartphones through the provision of the copper and borates and the world gets connected. The other industries such as communication transport and many others rely on the metals and minerals produced and supplied by the Rio Tinto Company. On the other hand, it ensures the protection of the environment while undertaking its activities. It is important to preserve it so as to protect the lives of the people and other living organisms (Hitt et al, 2013).

Regulatory Frameworks Affecting Rio Tinto in Australia

The vision of the organization is to be admired and be given the respect it deserves by delivering superior value. The operations it undertakes gives the opportunity to create mutual benefit with the regions and communities they operate in. The metals and minerals are transformed to products that help in improving the standards of living. It also faces various challenges such as resource scarcity, climate changes, economic development and community employment (Munck, 2004). The organization does it best to overcome the challenges and view them as opportunities for them to progress. The corporation strives to achieve the sustainable development goals by working with the partners and the society on the ground (Kaplan, 2008).

The multinational company Rio Tinto faces the challenge of the strict environmental Acts that were formed by the Australian government. The organization utilizes the natural resources that highly cause the environmental pollution. The impact that the company has on the environment has to be regulated by the laws stipulated by the government and it highly affects the production of the company (Ramburth et al, 2013). In addition to that, the protection of the environment operations Act 1997 governs the environment pollution extent in the state and all the companies must adhere to the rule and regulations. On the other hand, the POEO Acts comprise of the Clean Air Act 1961, Clean Water Act 1970, Pollution Control Act 1970, and Environmental Offenses and Penalties Act 1989. The corporations operating in Australia must adhere to the laws or else face big penalties for violating them. In other countries the environmental acts are not that strict and the companies operate smoothly without any complications. The corporations have to be conversant with the environmental laws for one to make more profits. The failure to follow the laws the company may face heavy penalties or lose their license to operate. It is major reason why the organizations that deal with the products that cause pollution to the environment avoid the state. The Rio Tinto Company has to limit its production that may cause environmental pollution or hence face penalties. The situation often affects the general income of the Rio Tinto organization due to the limitations of the government on environment issues (Rankin, 2011).

In addition to that, the Australian government imposes high tax on the multinational corporation as high as thirty percent. The higher taxes tend to discourage the corporations from operating in the state. The imposed taxes have a great negative impact on the income generated by the company. They end up earning low profits as they have to pay up the taxes as required by the government. On the other hand, they are limited by the environmental acts and they cannot go against them or else face heavy penalties. They must ensure that their production of the products does not interfere with the set laws. It makes the situation hard for the company as some mining processes may end up polluting the environment and later face the full force of the law (Evers, 2013). It is the duty of the management of the company to comply with the set laws to ensure it runs it activities in the country smoothly. The Australian government ensures the protection of its environmental state so as to ensure the citizens live in a favorable place. The people and the living organisms are vital to the country and the pollution of the environment they exist may pose danger to them. Therefore, every multinational company must follow the laws stipulated by the government for them to operate smoothly. It will be hard for them to earn profits if they fail to comply as heavy fines will be imposed on them. The restrictions in carrying out business make it difficult for them to expand and generate income due to their production of the products that mostly pollute the environment (Rankin, 2011).

There are various treaties and agreements that have been put in place by the government of Australia to govern the production of goods and services by the multinational companies. There is a treaty between Australia and United States government that allows the two nations to exchange the evidence and assist each other’s competition law enforcement activities. It ensures that the companies that engage in business in the countries cooperate with the existing ones. On the other hand, the agreement between Australia, Canada and New Zealand regarding consumers was put in place. It ensures that there is coordination and cooperation on the competition that takes place on the products and services supplied by various companies. Moreover, it ensures consumer protection, the exchange of information and also avoiding conflict (Heimert & Ceteris, 2010). The organizations should not at any time misuse the privilege given to operate in any foreign country by delivering unfavorable products to the consumers. The corporations should offer favorable prices of the products and services they supply to the public. Their marketing strategies should be according to the laws set by the government. However, any violation of the law will lead to heavy penalties or ban in carrying out any business in the state. It is the duty of the management of the corporation to ensure it adheres to the agreements stipulated for their smooth running. The commodities they produce should be in accordance to the agreement set and treaties signed by various countries. The multinational companies should ensure that their pricing of the products and services is favorable to the people. They should also not be harmful to the health of the people and they should always meet the health standards (Enright et al, 2013).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Rio Tinto Company has helped in the improvement of the living standards by providing various metals and minerals. On the other hand, they have provided employment to various individuals over a period of many years. Their commitment to their work has helped them be in the market for a long time. Moreover, they have produced quality products to the public and this makes them remain in the market. They have managed to open various branches in several countries so as to generate more income. The Australian regulatory frameworks have made the Rio Tinto face various challenges in their process. The environment acts restricts the pollution of the environment and any organization that does so faces heavy penalties.

References

Cullen, J. B., & Parboteeah, P. (2010). International business: Strategy and the multinational company. New York: Routledge.

Heidenreich, M. (2012). Innovation and institutional embeddedness of multinational companies. Cheltenham, U.K: Edward Elgar.

Birkinshaw, J. M. (2003). Future of the multinational company. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. Ltd.

Gabel, M., & Bruner, H. (2003). Global Inc: An atlas of the multinational corporation. New York: New Press.
Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2013). Strategic management: Competitiveness & globalization. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Munck, R. (2004). Labour and globalisation: Results and prospects. Liverpool: Liverpool Univ. Press.

Ramburuth, P., Stringer, C., & Serapio, M. (2013). Dynamics of International Business: Asia-Pacific Business Cases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kaplan, S. D. (2008). Fixing fragile states: A new paradigm for development. Westport, Conn: Praeger Security International.

Evers, S. J. T. M. (2013). Contest for land in Madagascar: Environment, ancestors and development. Leiden [u.a.: Brill.

Rankin, W. J. (2011). Minerals, metals and sustainability: Meeting future material needs. Collingwood, Vic: CSIRO Publishing.

Enright, M. J., Petty, R. M., & John Wiley & Sons. (2013). Australia's competitiveness: From lucky country to competitive country. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons.

Heimert, A. M., & Ceteris. (2010). Guide to international transfer law pricing: Law, tax planning and compliance strategies. Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer Law International.