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Philips fined $1.3 M for setting online price floor

By  |  June 24, 2012

The Korean Fair Trade Commission has fined Philips 1.5 billion KRW (approximately $1.3 million) for price-fixing. Philips had prevented Korean online shopping malls from offering discounts by requiring a price floor for its products. Malls that sold Philips products for less than 50 percent of the offline retail price experienced suspended deliveries, increased supply prices, or bans. Philips’ practices, the FTC says, blocked retailers from competing and also resulted in higher consumer prices.

The ruling is significant because it is the FTC’s first fine against a European company for a violation of the Korea-Europe free trade agreement. The agreement called for reducing the tariffs of European products sold in Korea, a goal that the FTC claims was hindered by Philips’ pricing policy.

Full content: Korea Times

 

Related content: A New Kid on the Block: Korean Competition Law, Policy, and Economics

 

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