The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) yesterday alleged Singapore Airlines Cargo had been involved in price fixing, making it the third airline the regulator has pursued in this regard.
The watchdog said it had begun proceedings against the Singapore carrier in the Federal Court as a result of its probe into price fixing cartels in the air cargo industry.
The commission alleges the carrier had “arrangements or understandings with other international air cargo carriers that had the purpose or effect of fixing the price of a fuel surcharge and a security surcharge” on cargo carried to and from Australia between 2001 and 2005.
“The ACCC is seeking declarations, injunctive relief, pecuniary penalties, and costs,” it said in a statement.
The Singapore carrier is the third airline the ACCC has accused of price fixing since late October when it instituted proceedings against Qantas Airways and British Airways.
Australia’s national airline Qantas was fined A$20 million (US$13.6 million) after admitting it engaged in price fixing linked to international cargo fuel surcharges between 2002 and 2006.
The Australian federal court in Sydney also fined British Airways A$5 million after it admitted an illegal arrangement in the airfreight market over the same time period with the German airline Lufthansa.
Commission chairman Graeme Samuel said on Monday the body was continuing to probe other airlines, “some of which are assisting voluntarily, while others are not.”
The case against Singapore Airlines begins with a directions hearing in Sydney on Feb. 12.
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
EARLY TALKS: Measures under consideration include convincing allies to match US curbs, further restricting exports of AI chips or GPUs, and blocking Chinese investments US President Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under former US president Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, people familiar with the matter said. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US
The popular Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) arbitrage trade might soon see a change in dynamics that could affect the trading of the US listing versus the local one. And for anyone who wants to monetize the elevated premium, Goldman Sachs Group Inc highlights potential trades. A note from the bank’s sales desk published on Friday said that demand for TSMC’s Taipei-traded stock could rise as Taiwan’s regulator is considering an amendment to local exchange-traded funds’ (ETFs) ownership. The changes, which could come in the first half of this year, could push up the current 30 percent single-stock weight limit
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
RSS