DOJ charged SEVEN CHINESE EXECS and four shipping manufacturers for antitrust violations

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Today, the Department of Justice is unsealing an indictment charging seven Chinese executives and four of the largest shipping container manufacturers with conspiring to fix prices in violation of antitrust laws.

[00:00:12]Collectively, the Chinese conspirators manufacture about 95% of the world's standard dry shipping containers. These charges arise from a conspiracy to restrict the output and fixed prices of shipping containers at the start of the CO 19 pandemic.

[00:00:29]Shipping containers are key to transporting billions of dollars of goods to Americans every year. Around the start of the global pandemic, these manufacturers exploited the crisis and their market power to squeeze the supply chain for profit. Through coordinated agreements, including the use of video cameras to monitor production lines and prices, this Chinese cartel dramatically raised the prices of shipping containers between 2019 and 2021.

[00:01:00]These companies were rewarded handsomely. Their profits increased nearly 100fold, receiving over 11 billion Juan at the expense of American businesses seeking to transport goods.