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Because you can't sue a reseller for breaching a contract if you never had a contract with them in the first place.

True in this specific case; not true in general:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privity_of_contract#Exceptions

Also notice that this doesn't include prominent examples from labor law (company A that hires someone who will knowingly break a non-compete agreement they held with company B can be held liable even though company A wasn't a party to the contract (c.f. the MSFT/GOOG executive hiring war)).

many companies that sell imported goods hold contacts to protect interst on both sides mfg and seller.

Why would you not try and protect your supply of goods

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