What was this company doing in hiring an untrustworthy manufacturer to handle secure devices? That's playing a game you've lost from the start. Not every problem is technical!
What was this company doing in hiring an untrustworthy manufacturer to handle secure devices? That's playing a game you've lost from the start. Not every problem is technical!
You're assuming that there were feasible alternatives; from their comment below:
"wasn't our device. There was a big, reputable company behind the device. We were ordering a number of those and they would be shipped to us directly from China. ... Also, we were basically locked in due to the magnitude of investment in the software we have developed for the device. ... Fortunately this only lasted for few months until it was dealt with"
As you say, that's un-winnable. The only way to really build trust is the capacity to sue your manufacturer to oblivion - I mean the real oblivion (destruction of shareholder value) with criminal charge for the company officers, not the lame single digit percent of a single year of profit with a discount if you settle.
This very rarely happens even if people have got killed. Also, good luck suing a Chinese company in China.
At this point, I think it's fair to establish an industry watchdog group that works as a clearinghouse for knowing all the American companies sourcing parts from the PRC and which companies they source from. This watchdog organization would be responsible for blacklisting suppliers from the entire US market if they don't agree to adjudicate in the US or if they fail to meet that contractual obligation).
This won't bankrupt them outright, but it will sever them from the US and if this watchdog group expands to aid non-US companies, could help shut them out of the entire global market.
I would also require registration of all top executives of these corporations so that you would make the punishment sticky if they moved to other companies. Overall, you've got to set a high punitive cost to non-compliance and non-cooperation.
(Ironically the other direction prevails in regard to Israel: there are anti-boycott laws! https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n14/amjad-iraqi/short-cuts )