US: DoJ wants to work with China on transparency

The US Justice Department’s antitrust division plans to continue working with China’s antitrust authorities to strengthen its competition agenda, a top DOJ official said August 30 in Shanghai.

The speech from Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roger Alford marks the first international antitrust comments from this administration. Alford noted that Makan Delrahim, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the antitrust division, “intends to make international engagement a priority.”

The efforts to coordinate with China on competition issues began in the Obama administration when Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Bill Baer led a delegation to China on legal issues.

“Our continued engagement on this topic is significant for competition enforcement,” Alford said. “We are the guardians of strong and vigorous competition for economic prosperity. Our lodestar is to promote competition, not to give preference to specific competitors, even when individual businesses jockey for advantage.

“In thinking about what processes will lead us to the best outcomes, the competition community has focused on transparency and procedural fairness. And given China’s rising economic power and its prominence in the competition sphere, the Chinese anti-monopoly agencies are a welcome voice in this international dialogue.” He continued “Transparency also enhances trust in our authority as competition enforcers.”

Full Content: Department of Justice

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