Foreign Firms Can Face Price-Fixing Charges

Price-fixing charges can be brought against foreign companies, even if the alleged wrongdoing took place outside the United States, a federal appeals court ruled. The ruling by the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals said Nippon Paper Industries Co. of Japan can face charges in the United States for allegedly conspiring to set the price for thermal, or heat-sensitive, fax paper in America and Canada. Nippon, Mitsubishi Paper Mills of Japan, Appleton Papers Inc. of Wisconsin and two executives from Mitsubishi and Appleton were indicted on price-fixing charges in December 1995 by a federal grand jury in Boston. A federal judge dismissed the charges last year, agreeing with Nippon’s argument that the alleged crime took place in Japan, beyond the reach of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Justice Department appealed, arguing that Nippon’s alleged actions affected the American fax paper market. The appeals court agreed.