Australian Competition & Consumer Commission v Boral Ltd [2001] FCA 30

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission v Boral Ltd [2001] FCA 30 TRADE PRACTICES – market – product market – how ascertained – market power – ability to exclude competition – barriers to entry – structural barriers – dynamic barriers – predatory pricing as barrier – excess capacity as barrier – misuse of market power – predatory pricing WORDS AND PHRASES – "power in a market"

Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) ss 4E, 46 Sherman Act 1890 (US) (15 USC §§ 1 to 7) Clayton Act 1914 (US) (15 USC §§ 12 to 27) Robinson-Patman Act 1936 (US) Treaty of Rome Art 86 A A Poultry Farms, Inc v Rose Acre Farms, Inc 881 F2d 1396 (7th Cir 1989) cited Abalos v Australian Postal Commission (1990) 171 CLR 167 applied AKZO Chemie BV v Commission of the European Communities [1994] ECR I-3359 discussed American Key Corporation v Cole National Corporation 762 F 2d 1569 (11th Cir 1985) cited Arnotts Limited v Trade Practices Commission (1990) 24 FCR 313 considered ASX Operations Pty Ltd v Pont Data Australia Pty Ltd (No. 1) (1990) 27 FCR 460 considered Betaseed, Inc v U & I Incorporated 681 F2d 1203 (9th Cir 1982) cited Bhan v NME Hospitals, Inc 669 FSupp 998 (1987) cited Brooke Group, Ltd v Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp 509 US 209 (1993) not followed Brown Shoe Co, Inc v United States 370 US 294 at 325 fn 42 (1961) cited Cargill, Inc v Monfort of Colorado, Inc 479 US 104 (1986) not followed Continental Can Co Inc, Re [1972] CMLR D11 considered Davids Holdings Pty Ltd v Attorney-General (Cth) (1994) 49 FCR 211 cons Devries v Australian National Railways Commission (1993) 177 CLR 472 applied Dowling v Dalgety Australia Limited (1992) 34 FCR 109 Eastern Express Pty Limited v General Newspapers Pty Limited (1991) 30 FCR 385 referred to General Foods Corporation, In the Matter of 103 FTC 204 (1984) cons General Newspapers Pty Limited v Eastern Express Pty Limited (1992) 35 FCR 43 referred to Hoffman-La Roche v Commission [1979] 1 ECR 461 considered Irish Sugar plc v Commission of the European Communities [1999] ECR II-2969 discussed Jack Winter, Inc v Koratron Company, Inc 375 FSupp 1 (1974) cited Jones v Hyde (1989) 63 ALJR 349; 85 ALR 23 applied Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, Ltd v Zenith Radio Corp 475 US 574 (1986) cited Melway Publishing Pty Ltd v Robert Hicks Pty Ltd (1999) 90 FCR 128 cited National Dairy Products Corporation v United States 350 F2d 321 (8th Cir 1965) cited Pont Data Australia Pty Ltd v ASX Operations Pty Ltd (1990) 21 FCR 385 considered Porto Rican American Tobacco Co of Porto Rico v American Tobacco Co 30 F2d 234 (2d Cir 1929) cited Queensland Co-operative Milling Association Ltd, Re (1976) 25 FLR 169 considered Queensland Wire Industries Proprietary Limited v Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (1988-1989) 167 CLR 177 applied Richter Concrete Corporation v Hilltop Concrete Association 691 F 2d 818 (1982) considered Standard Oil Company of New Jersey v United States 221 US 1 (1910) cited State Rail Authority of New South Wales v Earthline Constructions Pty Ltd (in liq) (1999) 73 ALJR 306; 160 ALR 588 applied Story Parchment Co v Paterson Parchment Paper Co 282 US 555 (1931) cited Trade Practices Commission v CSBP & Farmers Ltd (1980-1981) 53 FLR 135 referred to Trade Practices Commission v Pioneer Concrete (Qld) Pty Ltd (1994) 50 FCR 160 considered TV Signal Company of Aberdeen v American Telephone and Telegraph Company 462 F2d 1256 (8th Cir 1972) cited United States v Aluminium Co of America 184 F 2d 416 (1945) considered United States v Columbia Steel Co 334 US 495 at 510-511 (1947) cited United States v E I du Pont de Nemours & Co 351 US 377 (1956) applied United States v Grinnell Corp 384 US 563 (1965) cited US Anchor Manufacturing, Inc v Rule Industries, Inc 7 F3d 986 (1986) cited Utah Pie Co v Continental Bakery Co 386 US 685 (1967) discussed Victorian Egg Marketing Board v Parkwood Eggs Pty Ltd (1977-1978) 33 FLR 294 referred to W Adams and D Brock "Predation, 'Rationality', and Judicial Somnambulance" 64 University of Cincinnati Law Review 811 (1996) P E Areeda, J L Solow & H Hovenkamp Antitrust Law (1995) vol IIA p 85 P Areeda and D Turner "Predatory Pricing and Related Practices Under Section 2 of the Sherman Act" 88 Harvard Law Review 697 (1975) J S Bain Barriers to New Competition (1956) J B Baker "Predatory Pricing After Brooke Group: An Economic Perspective" 62 Antitrust Law Journal 585 (1994) S Beck "Intent as an Element of Predatory Pricing under Section 2 of the Sherman Act" 76 Cornell Law Review 1242 (1991) Bork The Antitrust Paradox (1978) J F Brodley & G A Hay, "Predatory Pricing: Competing Economic Theories and the Evolution of Legal Standards" 66 Cornell Law Review 738 (1981) B O Bruckman (ed) "Predatory Pricing Law – a Circuit-by-Circuit Survey" (1995) published by the Antitrust Law Section of the American Bar Association Easterbrook "The Limits of Antitrust" 63 Texas Law Review 1 (1984) K Elzinga and D Mills "Trumping the Areeda-Turner Test: The Recoupment Standard in Brooke Group" 62 Antitrust Law Journal 559 (1994) P Geroski and J Schwalbach (eds) Entry and Market Contestability: An International Comparison (1991) P Geroski, R J Gilbert & A Jacquemin Barriers to Entry and Strategic Competition (1990) D Harbord and T Hoehn "Barriers to Entry and Exit in European Competition Policy" 14 International Review of Law and Economics 411 (1994). 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