United States v. Nippon Paper Industry Corporation
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
109 F.3d 1 (1997)
Nippon Paper Industry Corporation (defendant), a Japanese manufacturer, sold paper to trading houses whose U.S. subsidiaries resold it to American buyers; the government criminally prosecuted Nippon for a price-fixing conspiracy allegedly conducted entirely in Japan but aimed at inflating thermal-fax-paper prices in the United States. Nippon moved to dismiss, arguing its conduct occurred entirely abroad and fell outside the Sherman Act's reach; the district court agreed and dismissed the case, and the government appealed.
Whether the Sherman Act's criminal jurisdiction extends to foreign conduct that has an intended and substantial anticompetitive effect in the United States.