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cases where a United Kingdom company with a minority share- holding is treated in US law as a US company.
Third, there is the contentious field of international shipping. Recently the US Department of Justice indicted several European shipping lines and individuals for activities which are perfectly legal in Europe. The whole essence of shipping is that it is an international activity. It affects the interest of all countries involved in the trade, not just the United States. Our Government, like other governments involved in shipping relations with the United States, believes that any problems which arise should be dealt with by joint discussion and mutual agreement, not in a manner which disregards the jurisdictional interests of her trading partners.
I regret that the major cases which have come my way during my first hundred days in office had led me to prepare defensive proposals for the re-assembly of Parliament next month when I shall be introducing new legislation designed to give better protection to British companies and individuals against attempts by any other country particularly USA -
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to impose on them unilaterally their own domestic economic policies and regulations. One of the effects of these proposals, if Parliament approves them, will be that a range of US judgments, including those in antitrust, will not be enforceable in the UK and we shall be able to exercise tighter control over the provision of information from the UK where US authorities seek it for the purposes of investi- gations carried out under US law".
US Antitrust
The United States has the most elaborate and comprehensive body of antitrust, elsewhere often called competition, laws in the world. The overriding concern of US antitrust policy is the control of economic power and this control is based on general prohibitions which permit no exceptions. In general, restrictive agreements and monopolies are illegal per se even though they might in some cases produce economic advantages. Mergers tend to be considered in accordance with rigid structural criteria and are liable to be prevented if the criteria are fulfilled, regardless of any off-setting advantages from an economic point of view. The method of enforcement of antitrust law is essentially judicial, and infringements are subject to stringent criminal as well as civil action (including the provision for injured parties to claim three times the damages they have suffered treble damage suits). This is in marked contrast to the UK approach, which relies in large measure on administrative processes.
A major problem with the US approach is the extraterritorial application of their law. The US assertion of jurisdiction in antitrust, and other, matters is broader than that of any other developed country and is based on the "effects" doctrine, where- by the US courts claim jurisdiction over activities, wheresoever and by whomsoever committed, which have effects within the USA or which effect the foreign commerce of the USA. Another problem is their "enterprise entity" doctrine, whereby jurisdiction is also claimed over foreign subsidiaries and affiliates of US