Antitrust Risks and Tariff Price Adjustments | On-Demand CLE Antitrust Webinar

Antitrust Risks and Tariff Price Adjustments: Navigating Regulatory Scrutiny | On-Demand CLE Antitrust Webinar

Broadcast Date: Thursday, March 5, 2026, from 12:00 pm to 1:30 PM (ET)

In a complex global trade environment, businesses face more scrutiny from antitrust regulators when prices change due to tariffs and supply chain issues. Recent enforcement actions show that even valid tariff-related pricing strategies can lead to investigations if not managed carefully.

Join Craig R. Malam, PhD, Partner, at Edgeworth Economics, Hassan Faghani, PhD, Director, at Berkeley Research Group, LLC, David A. Higbee, Partner, at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and Mark R. Butscha, Jr., Partner, at Thompson Hine LLP for this CLE antitrust webinar. This panel of experts in antitrust and trade law will explore how tariff-driven pricing impacts competition law and regulatory compliance. They will provide practical advice on how companies can reduce antitrust risks, stay transparent, and comply during price adjustments or the renegotiation of supply terms in changing tariff conditions.

Attendees will learn how US. and international regulators evaluate pricing coordination and what legal teams can do to avoid potential violations.

What You Will Learn in this Webinar

• Understanding the Antitrust Implications of Tariff-Related Price Adjustments
• Recent Enforcement Trends and Notable Cases
• Strategies for Lawful Communication and Coordination with Suppliers and Distributors
• Compliance Best Practices for Pricing and Market Responses to Tariff Changes
• Managing Internal Reviews and Documentation to Withstand Regulatory Scrutiny
• Practical Guidance on Navigating DOJ and FTC Enforcement Priorities

Agenda

Craig R. Malam, PhD, Partner, Edgeworth Economics

• Tariffs as Market Barriers: How effective tariffs can raise the local price of imports, potentially transforming a relevant market from global to national by making foreign supply less competitive.
  
  • Describe an example where global supply can be shown to constrain local prices—and then how tariffs can change the equation.
• High-level description of impacts on key analytical tools for market definition, including price correlation analysis, landed cost calculations, and the HMT.
• How agencies and courts approach market definition when tariffs are in play, and given the above analytical tools, what evidence is most persuasive in showing that overseas entry is (or is no longer) part of the relevant market and represents a credible competitive threat.
• Broader Policy and Strategy Implications: how to position market definition advocacy so you haven’t painted yourself into a corner if the world goes back to more open trade policies. And what this means more generally for merger parties, antitrust authorities, and the future of cross-border competition in a world of rising protectionism.

Hassan Faghani, PhD, Director, Berkeley Research Group, LLC

• Tariff shock → Who bears cost → Pass-through patterns
• Market structure & markups along the supply chain
• Antitrust “risk zones” during tariff responses
• Implications for enforcement: screening + compliance
• The economics of tariff incidence and pass-through
• Antitrust concerns – especially what compliance teams and litigators worry about when firms respond to tariffs.

David A. Higbee, Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

• Even if companies respond to tariffs with unilateral price adjustments (emphasizing the importance of unilateral/non-coordinated decision-making, as Mark notes below), price adjustments that take place close in time and are similar in amount (i.e., if the full tariff effect is passed on to customers) may look like parallel pricing and could be subject to scrutiny by enforcers and private plaintiffs.  Companies should be careful in how and when they announce their anticipated responses to tariffs publicly, and should avoid the kinds of “plus factors” that public and private enforcers will look for to support allegations of coordination among competitors.

1. 1. What is parallel pricing?
   2. What is price signaling?  Use care in public statements.
   3. What are “plus factors” and how can they be avoided?
   4. The importance of good document hygiene and internal communications on these topics.
   5. What factors influence the timing and amount of reduction of prices after tariffs have been reduced or eliminated?
   6. Be careful with trade association participation.  Government advocacy OK, but discussing how members will respond is not.

• In merger review, changes in the pricing of various competitors can affect which competitors will be included in a market, or their anticipated market share/influence in a market.  Because tariff policy is so dynamic and fluid (i.e., changing frequently), this can create uncertainty where international markets or inputs are involved, and may weaken arguments about the significance of foreign suppliers into U.S. markets.  Also, changes in the costs of imports from various countries could change regional pricing in the U.S. depending on where various suppliers deliver their inputs and shipping costs, which could change market dynamics within the U.S.
• Tariffs often have effects similar to other supply shock events (e.g., temporary supply chain disruptions), and enforcers (especially state attorneys general under recent “price gouging” laws) will often look to see if companies are raising prices “excessively” or seeking to increase prices beyond the natural effects of the supply constraint, or maintain them too long.

Mark R. Butscha, Jr., Partner, Thompson Hine LLP

• Pricing decisions related to tariff effects should be unilateral.  Parties selling the same or similar products affected by tariffs should not coordinate pricing decisions or discuss them with each other.
• Relatedly, do not discuss the price effects of tariffs with competitors.  One exception to this may be coordination of efforts to petition the government about tariff policy.
• Tariff evasion may draw criminal scrutiny (e.g., Chinese forklift case involving Antitrust Division and Procurement Collusion Strike Force) based on antitrust or related (fraud) violations.

Why Attend This Webinar?

By attending this CLE antitrust webinar, you will:

• Earn CLE credit online from the comfort of your office or home.
• Access both the live webinar and the on-demand recording at your convenience.
• Gain practical insights into how tariff-related pricing adjustments can trigger antitrust scrutiny and how to mitigate compliance risks.
• Fulfill continuing legal education requirements in a practical, engaging format tailored to legal professionals.

Who Should Attend

• Antitrust and Competition Lawyers
• Trade and International Business Attorneys
• Corporate Counsel / In-House Counsel
• Compliance and Risk Officers
• Business Executives and Pricing Managers
• Supply Chain and Procurement Professionals
• Economists and Policy Advisors

Navigate Tariff-Driven Antitrust Risks with Confidence!

Join this timely CLE antitrust and trade law webinar to explore how tariff-related pricing adjustments impact competition law and regulatory compliance. Learn practical strategies to manage antitrust risks, ensure transparency, and maintain compliance when adjusting prices or renegotiating supply terms. Gain expert insights on recent enforcement trends, key cases, and best practices for navigating DOJ and FTC priorities—all while earning CLE credit through a program designed for today’s trade and competition law professionals.

Please check the credit section below for the details for your state and do not hesitate to contact the Knowledge Group if you have any questions.