The Paul, Weiss Antitrust Practice advises clients on a full range of global antitrust matters, including antitrust regulatory clearance, government investigations, private litigation, and counseling and compliance. The firm represents clients before antitrust and competition authorities in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions around the world.
Federal Court Allows Price Fixing Case to Proceed Against Chinese Manufacturers of Vitamin C
September 9, 2011
This week, a federal district court in New York allowed a putative antitrust class action against a group of Chinese vitamin C manufacturers to move forward, rejecting the defendants' argument on summary judgment that they were compelled by the Chinese government to export vitamin C at a minimum price. The decision takes a narrow view of the doctrine of foreign sovereign compulsion - which may, in some circumstances, serve as a defense to antitrust liability - and suggests that even business conduct that is regulated by a foreign government may be subject to antitrust scrutiny in the United States. Notably, the Court relied on its own interpretations of Chinese law in reaching its conclusions, and declined to defer to the interpretations presented by China's Ministry of Commerce, which appeared as an amicus curiae in the matter.