Aug. 31, 2009 — TKS, Goss agree to settle dispute

Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho Ltd. and Goss International said they’ve agreed to settle their long-running trade dispute and will take steps to end pending litigation and legislative initiatives in both Japan and the United States.
The vendors said terms of the agreement will not be made public, but that both firms acknowledged that resolution “was in the best interest of their companies,” according to a TKS press release.
The settlement ends a nine-year legal battle that began when Goss sued Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, manroland, Koenig & Bauer AG and TKS, alleging that the firms sold presses in the United States at below-market rates.
In 2002, Goss reached a settlement with Mitsubishi and the German press vendors, but the deal didn’t include TKS.
One year later, the U.S. District Court in northern Iowa found TKS violated the later-repealed Antidumping Act of 1916 and fined the press vendor $10 million, an amount tripled under antitrust law.
TKS appealed, but the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in 2006, rejected the vendor’s petition. The U.S. Supreme Court let the judgment stand after it declined a TKS motion to mediate.
The settlement will also end U.S. legislative and administrative steps, including the U.S. Department of Commerce's sunset review.
Look for more information about the resolution of this dispute in the October issue of News & Tech.