F. HOFFMANN-La ROCHE LTD, et al., Petitioners v. EMPAGRAN S.A. et al., 542 U.S. 155

Summary

The issue was how the language in 15 U.S.C.S. § 6a applied to price-fixing activity that was in significant part foreign, had the requisite domestic effect, and also had independent foreign effects that gave rise to the purchasers' claim. The transaction at issue fell within the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act (FTAIA) because the legislative history clearly indicated that Congress deliberately amended the language of the statute to include commerce that did not involve American exports, but which was wholly foreign. Thus, the FTAIA's general rule applied where the anticompetitive conduct at issue was foreign. However, the language in 15 U.S.C.S. § 6a did not apply in the circumstances at issue given Congress's adherence to principles of prescriptive comity in the international arena. Moreover, the FTAIA's language and history suggested that Congress designed the statute to clarify, but not expand in any significant way, the Sherman Act's scope as applied to foreign commerce.