This article challenges an argument from Tom Donaldson's recent book T
he Ethics of International Business with a claim that distributive jus
tice, deemed in many circles to impose a duty of mutual aid on individ
uals and nations, establishes a basis for holding multinational corpor
ations to such a duty as well. The root idea I advocate is that Rawls'
theory of justice can be deployed - beyond its original intent yet in
line with its spirit - to underwrite a prima facie obligation of inte
rnational business to render aid to ameliorate suffering on behalf of
the inhabitants of developing countries in which they operate.