How to Block strongCartelstrong Formation and Price Fixing Using.pdf

BUSH.DOC 4/16/2008 11:41:23 AM How to Block Cartel Formation and Price Fixing: Using Extraterritorial Application of the Antitrust Laws as a Deterrence Mechanism John M. Connor* and Darren Bush** I. Introduction In an age of increasing international commerce, it should come as no surprise that international cartels are on the upswing.1 As competition * Professor of Industrial Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. ** Associate Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center. This article’s early foundation is an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court in F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. v. Empagran S.A., 542 U.S. 155 (2004), by the authors, along with Professors John J. Flynn, Shubha Ghosh, Warren Grimes, Joseph E. Harrington, Jr., Norman Hawker, Robert Lande, William G. Shepherd, and Steven Semeraro. The amicus brief is available at /publications/abstract.php?pid=728. The brief itself had by December 2007 been downloaded over 4900 times. The authors wish to thank Peter J. Rubin and Christopher Springman for their helpful comments. To the extent that errors or omissions remain, the authors blame each other. 1. As of 2003, there were approximately 50 sitting grand juries investigating suspected international cartel activity. International cartel investigations account for close to half of the Division’s criminal investigations. The subjects and targets of the Division’s international investigations are located on 6 continents and in nearly 25 different countries. However, the geographic scope of the criminal activity is even broader than these numbers reflect. Our investigat