Question:
A newspaper printing press system is more than a hundred feet long, stands four or five stories tall, and weighs 2 million pounds. Only about ten of the systems are sold each year in the United States. Because of the size and cost, a newspaper may update its system, rather than replace it, by buying “additions.”By the 1990s, Goss International Corp. was the only domestic maker of the equipment in the United States and represented the entire U.S. market. Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho (TKSC), a Japanese corporation, makes the systems in Japan. In the 1990s,TKSC began to compete in the U.S. market, forcing Goss to cut its prices below cost. TKSC’s tactics included offering its customers “secret” rebates on prices that were ultimately substantially less than the products’ actual market value in Japan. According to TKSC office memos, the goal was to “win completely this survival game” against Goss, the “enemy.” Goss filed a suit in a federal district court against TKSC and others, alleging illegal dumping. At what point does a foreign firm’s attempt to compete with a domestic manufacturer in the United States become illegal dumping? Was that point reached in this case? Discuss.