Cartel Defendants Not Entitled To Rely On 'Foreign Sovereign Compulsion' Defense To Antitrust Liability, Desipite Official Statement That Conduct Was Compelled

In re Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation, 06-MD-1738 (BMC)(JO) (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 2011), addresses on summary judgment the Vitamin C cartel's arguments over the so-called "foreign sovereign compulsion" (FSC) and related defenses. In rejecting reliance on those defenses and thereby denying the motions for summary judgment, the decision contains extended discussion of several important international litigation issues.

The defendants in the case "do not dispute that the cartel agreements at issue violate the antitrust laws" except for a single defense: "that they were compelled by the Chinese government to fix prices". The motion for summary judgment relied on the FSC defense as well as defenses based on comity and the Act of State Doctrine. The motion was supported by an amicus brief filed by the Chinese government explaining the...