As booze and babies illustrate in today’s newspapers, the consumer price impacts by the EU & US FTAs may have been blown way out of proportions by both proponents and opponents of these trade treaties. The big price inflators are, normally, not duties but distribution costs and sometimes excise taxes. In time, some of the new import price savings resulting from tariff reductions may be passed on to consumers as more importers and distributors provide Korean consumers with foreign goods.
Continue readingCategory: Korean Antitrust Law
FTC of Korea: All Bark and No Bite?
The Korea Times published an article, last week, on Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) that sheds light on a business and, also, consumer-friendly program offered by the FTC. The FTC has been, strongly, criticized by the main-stream for using the powers of the Commission to fight inflation in Korea in order to appease the Administration and the citizens. Some of the most liberal, now, are even claiming that the FTC is not going far enough. The FTC has no friends
Continue readingKorea Fair Trade Commission to Enforce Mislabeling and Misleading Advertisement Law in Korea: May the Seller Beware
In June of 2011, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has begun to enforce Notification of the Standards on Imposing Penalties on Companies that Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising. The KFTC is very aggressive in enforcing law. We suspect to see a few public cases this year concerning mislabeled foreign products A penalty may be imposed only if: The Act was violated on two or more occasions in a three year period; or Serious harm is realized by customers;
Continue readingDon’t Mess with the Big Boys in Korea: The Google Korea Saga Continues
In the past, raids have been conducted by the National Police Agency concerning alleged violations of Korea’s privacy law stemming from mapping software that is in direct competition with a product from the same parties that filed this present complaint. This time, the Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC) raided Google headquarters in Seoul. The raid is intended to reveal information that Google is prohibiting or using tactics to delay the use of Korea’s Naver browsers and other browsers on the
Continue readingFair Transactions with Subcontractors Act of Korea: So Buyer Beware or Simply Avoid the Risk and Buy the Seller?
Because of perceived abuse by Korean conglomerates of subcontractors, the Korean Fair Transactions in Subcontracting Act was passed in March of 2011. The Act was effective since the beginning of July of 2011. The Act, in short, grants wide discretion to the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses. This agency is now authorized to request adjustments to Korean subcontractors contractually obligated delivery prices and additionally may impose treble damages for certain violations of this Act, including for the act
Continue readingKorean FTC Fines Korean Refiners for Collusion
In a possible reaction to Korea’s rising inflation, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) fined the four major Korean refiners a total of KRW 434.8 billion (USD 442 million) for preventing competition through collusion. The KFTC noted that: “In their meeting in March of 2000, officials of the four refiners agreed to respect the rights of former exclusive oil suppliers to gas stations and refrained from supplying their products to even gas stations with ties with a particular brand in
Continue readingKorean Price-Fixing Law: Defining the Relevant Market in Korea Antitrust Law
The Seoul High Court (2009 NU 1930, May 19, 2010) has overruled a decision of the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) in a case concerning price-fixing by luxury car importers. The KFTC has appealed the this pivotal price-fixing case. We shall update the reader. The High Court ruled that a price-fixing arrangement (restriction on discounts from MSRP) between Lexus car dealers was not an “unfair collective act” under Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act Art. 19 (1) thus overruling the
Continue readingKorean Antitrust Laws’ Evolution
Korea Times (07/30/2010)by Sean C. Hayes Over the past decade, Korea has fostered the development of a Fair Trade Commission (FTC) with the power to actively fight to eliminate anticompetitive forces in the market. This admirable evolution is welcomed by most domestic consumers. However, in many cases, anticompetitive practices may actually be a benefit to consumers in the short and long term. In these cases, a more nuanced Chicago School approach is necessary in order to incorporate a little realism
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