Multistate Conflicts in Antitrust Law: the American-Japanese Case

Accusations of unfair behaviour in the field of antitrust law have been at all times on the agenda of American-Japanese conflicts. There is a continuous battle in the court rooms and on political forums about the range of application of American antitrust provisions. Japanese as well as European enterprises are confronted with a more and more aggressive and far-reaching assertion of American jurisdiction, even on acts commited outside the United States.This article sketches the development of the position adopted by the American courts and its legal backgrounds, presenting some leading cases. It describes the conflict of jurisdiction opposing the United States by its most important trade partners. This political and economic conflict represents a special virulence in the American-Japanese relationship. In spite of the textual similarities of the American and Japanese antitrust statutes there are striking differences in the practical attitude towards their enforcement. This paper outlines these differences and tries to explore their reasons.Finally, the author presents various attempts to bridge the gap between the American and the Japanese antitrust practice. A solution for the legal and political dispute requires on both sides responsible, conflict-avoiding legislative and judicial behaviour.