Asia: US antitrust hits Asian firms the hardest, says study

A study conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce found that Asian companies are hardest hit by fines issued by US competition authorities.

The report, published Monday, found that fines sanctioned against Asian firms by US officials increased to $5.1 billion between 2005 and 2014, up from $428 million between 1995 and 2004. Japanese companies paid the most fines during that time period, say reports, at $3.3 billion.

After Japanese firms, South Korean companies were hit with $1.2 billion, and Taiwanese firms were sanctioned $868 million.

The US Department of Justice is in the midst of a record-setting price-fixing investigation that has lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in fines against mostly Japanese firms and individuals.

The report noted that US agencies are closely watching Asian firms as they move their business within US boarders. One author of the study, Kang Seok-gu, says that cultural differences between Asian and US may lead to such high fines, as what is considered commonplace within Asia is often not tolerated within the US.

Full content: Financial Times

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