Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner today upheld (with help of course) a ruling against a plaintiff class that accused a pair of firms from the Great White North of scheming with U.S. outfits to raise the price of sulfuric acid, a by-product for the Canadians of smelting non-ferrous metals like nickel and copper.
The class claimed that a pact to replace domestic H2SO4 with H2SO4 from across the border hurt competition here and by that means raised prices in the land of the free and the brave.
Judge Posner seems to have thought the claim plausible but not so clear as to deserve per se treatment. The panel thus upheld dismissal of the case, which the plaintiffs refused to pursue under a rule of reason test.
That Judge Posner felt bafflement with the plaintiffs' choice may understate the case. Oh well. In re Sulfuric Acid Antitrust Litig., No. 12-1109 (7th Cir. Dec. 27, 2012).
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