For the last several years, the global auto industry has been
rocked by unprecedented investigations and
prosecution. Numerous international cartels, involving scores
of companies and individuals, have engaged in price-fixing. Most of
these cartels operated in foreign countries, fixing prices for
automotive components that were incorporated into vehicles and
shipped to the United States. Many individuals have been convicted
and sentenced to prison in the United States. Massive treble
damage class actions are pending.
Essentially all of these U.S. government and private civil antitrust actions have been based on the
extraterritorial application of U.S. antitrust laws to these
international cartels. The underlying legal basis for all
these actions – criminal and civil – is the Foreign
Trade Antitrust Improvements Act ("FTAIA"). The
FTAIA was enacted in 1982 to help achieve clarity in the
application of U.S antitrust laws to international trade. Recently,
several
