HOUSE REVIVES DRIVE TO END CARRIERS? ANTITRUST IMMUNITY

HOUSE REVIVES DRIVE TO END CARRIERSÆ ANTITRUST IMMUNITY    Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, yesterday (March 27) revived a legislative drive to repeal ocean carriers’ antitrust immunity.
   Sensenbrenner succeeded Rep. Henry Hyde, the first to raise the issue in Congress,'as chairman of the powerful committee.
   Chairman Sensenbrenner said his bill is identical to the legislation introduced in the last Congress by Hyde.    Hyde is now chairman of the House International Relations Committee.
'    “In recent years, the last remaining major, American-owned, global shipping companies have been sold to foreign companies.    Thus, this exemption provides antitrust immunity protection to foreign ship owners at the expense of American consumers,” Sensenbrenner said.
   “What justification could possibly exist for a law that allows foreign ship owners to fix prices at the expense of American consumers? Clearly, it’s time to repeal this outdated exemption,” Sensenbrenner said.
'    The legislation is supported by a coalition of ocean transportation intermediaries known as the Coalition for Fair Play in Ocean Shipping, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the International Mass Retail Association and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.