That claim drew harsh criticism from some trade lawyers, who said it implied that even universities providing Chinese students basic engineering educations or Boeing's airplane sales to Chinese airlines would breach export law, according to Clif Burns, a partner at Powell Goldstein in Washington, D.C., and an adjunct professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center.

"The arguments were preposterously dumb. They didn't indicate even minimal efforts to investigate the legal history," says Burns.