Feds: Railroads’ rate discussions can be evidence in price-fixing lawsuits

A photograph of rail yard. A city with skyscrapers is in the background.

Class I railroads’ discussions about setting local and interline rates can be included as evidence in dozens of shippers’ lawsuits over price fixing in the 2000s, various federal agencies have concluded.

Attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice, speaking on behalf of itself, the Federal Trade Commission, the Surface Transportation Board and the U.S. Department of Transportation, determined that discussions or agreements by the Class I carriers on setting local or interline rates generally...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/feds-railroads-rate-discussions-can-be-evidence-in-price-fixing-lawsuits

US unlikely to copy EU’s antitrust charge against Amazon — antitrust lawyer

The European Union’s reported plan to bring antitrust charges against Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) for allegedly using third-party sellers’ data to unfairly compete against them is unlikely to be copied in the United States because of the differences in the two antitrust regimes, a U.S.-based antitrust attorney said Thursday.

The 1957 Treaty of Rome, which created the forerunner of the EU known as the European Economic Commission, gave European regulators broad authority to crack down on “abuse...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-unlikely-to-copy-eus-antitrust-charge-against-amazon-antitrust-lawyer

Shippers warn of antitrust ramifications

A photograph of a freight train locomotive.

Shippers are concerned that the freight railroads’ justification over alleged price fixing that occurred in the early 2000s could open the door towards loosening antitrust laws.

The concerns are related to lawsuits from dozens of shippers aimed at four U.S. Class I railroads, CSX (NASDAQ: CSX), Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC), Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) and BNSF (NYSE: BRK). The lawsuits allege that between 2003 and 2008, these four railroads applied fuel surcharges on rail rates that weren’t...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/shippers-warn-of-antitrust-ramifications

European Commission Opens Antitrust Investigation Into Fincantieri’s Bid for Chantiers de l’Atlantique Shipyard

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS, Oct 30 (Reuters) – Italy’s bid to create a European industrial champion in the shipbuilding industry faces difficulty after EU antitrust regulators said Fincantieri’s bid for Chantiers de l’Atlantique would significantly reduce competition. The European Commission said the...

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gcaptain/~3/mINrUZA_zJo/