The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

US warns China on “anti-monopoly” regulation:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-treasury-warns-china-over-antimonopoly-efforts-1410687635

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned his Chinese counterpart in a recent letter that a spate of antimonopoly investigations against foreign companies could have serious implications for relations between the two countries, according to people briefed on its contents.

…The warning comes after international business lobbies have raised complaints over a string of antimonopoly and pricing probes that they say unfairly focus on foreign companies. The groups have said that Chinese officials pressure executives not to contest accusations and that the probes are unfairly aimed at protectionism of Chinese companies rather than building a free-market economy.

…China in recent months has stepped up enforcement of its six-year-old antimonopoly law. Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. are being investigated for potential monopolistic activity… On Thursday, local pricing authorities in Shanghai levied a 31.7 million yuan ($5.2 million) fine against a local arm of Fiat SpA's Chrysler over car-pricing.

…The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a report last week that discriminatory use of China's six-year-old antimonopoly law "arguably violates commitments that China undertook when it acceded to the World Trade Organization." In August, the European Chamber of Commerce in China said it heard "alarming" accounts from European companies that intimidation tactics are being used and that companies were discouraged from bringing in outside lawyers.

See #msg-102742589 for my “workaround” to this problem. Also see #msg-102742062, #msg-102834451, and #msg-102945771 for related stories.