Manufacturers' Liability In The Face Of Globalization

Imagine the following scenario: a local distributor sells a commonly used product that shortly thereafter causes a major house fire. The purchaser submits a claim with his home insurer, which indemnifies him and then naturally wants to exercise its rights against the responsible party to recover the indemnity paid. The local distributor finds itself sued by the home insurer because of its involvement in the sale of the allegedly defective product.

In such context, the local distributor might be consoled by the thought that it may easily transfer blame to the manufacturer of the product at issue, and that, in any event, it cannot be held liable for any damage whatsoever, because it had no role in the design or manufacture of the product. Clearly, the contrary would be unfair.