Antitrust and Trade Regulation: U.S., Chinese Authorities Sign Antitrust Memorandum of Understanding

On July 27, Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz signed an antitrust memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China’s three antitrust agencies to promote communication and cooperation among the agencies in the two countries. The MOU sets out a two-part framework for antitrust cooperation: (1) "the joint dialogue among all parties to this Memorandum on competition policy at the senior official level";and (2) "communication and cooperation on competition law enforcement and policy between individual U.S. antitrust agencies and PRC antimonopoly agencies." The Justice Department's press release on the event noted that the MOU does not change existing law, as China's antimonopoly law, which was enacted in 2007, took effect on August 1, 2008.