High Court Won't Hear Newspaper Press Pricing Dispute

By: The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider a dispute over pricing policies between two makers of newspaper printing presses.

More broadly, the justices sidestepped an international dispute between economic superpowers America and Japan.

A Japanese company had been ordered to pay $31 million to a U.S. manufacturer after a jury found that it tried to drive competitors out of business by selling reduced priced presses.

Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho Ltd., or TKS, appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the company did not violate U.S. law because there was no proof of "predatory intent." Washington lawyer Carter Phillips told justices that if they did not intervene, American exporters could face retaliatory trade measures.

The dispute pits TKS against Illinois-based Goss International Corp., which makes and sells newspaper printing press and press additions to newspapers.

TKS makes printing presses in Japan and sells them worldwide.

The large newspaper presses can weigh 2 million pounds and stand four or five stories tall. Because presses are used for decades, there are few sales of new ones: about 10 a year, according to court documents.

Goss dominated the market from the 1970s through the 1990s.

TKS, meanwhile, was getting big customers including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and the Newark Star-Ledger. The company was accused of selling press additions below price in 1996 to The Dallas Morning News, and forcing Goss to cut its prices to compete.

Goss sued in 2000 claiming its competitor was guilty of "dumping," or trying to control the market by selling below-cost goods. A jury agreed that Goss was injured by TKS, and the jury verdict was tripled.

The government of Japan had filed a brief with the Supreme Court, saying that if the jury verdict stands, it is entitled to seek authorization from the World Trade Organization to take countermeasures against America, including the imposition of tens of million of dollars in duties. Japan told justices the jury verdict puts America in violation of a WTO agreement.

The appeal is unusual, in that Goss had won damages under a 1916 law that was repealed by Congress in 2004. Goss lawyers said that the issues raised by the appeal are now "moot" except for this one case.