US court bins verdict against 2 Chinese firms

Two Chinese drug companies won dismissal of a $147-million antitrust verdict after a federal appeals court in the United States ruled they were acting under Chinese law and couldn't be held liable in the US for fixing prices.

North China Pharmaceutical Group Corp and its manufacturing unit, Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Co, shouldn't have been forced to defend against claims that they conspired to coordinate prices to create a supply shortage for vitamin C sold outside China, the appeals court in Manhattan ruled Tuesday.

A lower court failed to give enough deference to the Chinese government's interpretation of its own laws and should have declined to consider the case, the appeals panel said.