Jury Rejects Chinese Vitamin C Maker's Foreign Compulsion Defense

A jury has returned a verdict against vitamin C manufacturer Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical and its parent, North China Pharmaceutical Group, for violating American antitrust law. In finding for the plaintiffs, the jury rejected the Chinese companies' defense that their conduct had been compelled by the Chinese government. The jury found that the plaintiffs had sustained damages of $54.¹ million, which was trebled under U.S. antitrust law for a total award of $162.3 million.1 Prior to the jury verdict, three of the original five defendants reached a settlement with the plaintiffs, with two of them reportedly agreeing to pay the plaintiffs $22.5 million.²

The defendants had argued that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Medicines and Health Products Importers & Exporters was a part of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (MOFCOM), and that they were thus legally required to act in accordance with the Chamber's rules. Under American law, in some