What Every Multinational Company Should Know About . . . The Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) actively enforces the Sherman Act within the U.S. and internationally. Generally described, the Sherman Act is a powerful statutory scheme designed to prohibit anti-competitive behavior, which applies both domestically and internationally. The DOJ's ability to enforce the Sherman Act is constrained by a separate statute, the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act (FTAIA). The language of the FTAIA statute is complicated, so the focus of this article is on the Sherman Act's application to conduct outside the U.S., recent FTAIA enforcement actions, issues to monitor in potential enforcement actions under the Sherman Act, and why multinational corporations should be aware of how the FTAIA increases the risk of the international enforcement of U.S. antitrust law abroad.