Catherwood LibraryILR School

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a case that has broad implications for how U.S. antitrust laws apply to transactions that take place overseas. The case is over price-fixing and the defendants are U.S. manufacturers of vitamins and the plaintiffs are all non -U.S. purchasers of those vitamins. The Bush Administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claim that lower courts have created new antitrust liability for U.S. companies overseas operations by allowing federal courts to decide antitrust claims by non-U.S. plaintiffs who have little connections to U.S. commerce. Neither side disputes that the Sherman Act applies to foreign trade by U.S. companies, but the argument is that the appeals court was too broad in their decision, making drastic changes that were never intended by Congress.