Sentence:  The American Consul at Leipzig requested the Chamber of Commerce of that city to furnish him with certain information concerning the preparation of rabbit's skin for the hat trade. The Chamber replied that, although it was desirous of promoting the trade of Germany with foreign countries, it must, as a matter of principle, decline to furnish technical reports on German manufactures that would be likely to assist foreign competitors. The "Leipziger Faerber Zeitung" published the following, headed “Unfair Competition & <WSD>Industrial Espionage</WSD>" by the Consuls of the United States.” 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The use of clandestine methods to acquire secret information for commercial advantage.