Chinese Vitamin C Makers Win Dismissal of $147 Million Judgment
- North China Pharmaceutical and Hebei Welcome win U.S. ruling
- Companies can’t be held liable for price fixing, court says
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Two Chinese drug companies won dismissal of a $147 million antitrust verdict after a federal appeals court ruled they were acting under Chinese law and couldn’t be held liable in the U.S. for fixing prices.
North China Pharmaceutical Group Corp. and its manufacturing unit, Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Co., shouldn’t have been forced to defend against claims they conspired to coordinate prices to create a supply shortage for vitamin C sold outside China, the appeals court in Manhattan ruled Tuesday. A lower court failed to give enough deference to the Chinese government’s interpretation of its own laws and should have declined to consider the case, the appeals panel said.