The Second Circuit recently issued a landmark decision concerning the amount of deference to be given to a foreign state’s interpretation of its own laws in U.S. courts. See In re Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation, No. 13-cv-4791, 2016 WL 5017312 (2d Cir. Sept. 20, 2016). The case involved allegations of price fixing by several Chinese companies, and the court held that it was “bound” to accept the interpretation of Chinese law regulating the defendants’ conduct provided in an amicus brief by a Chinese government ministry, which led to the case being dismissed on the grounds of international comity.

The clarity of the opinion, and the seemingly strong rule of deference it applies, have led many commenters to characterize it as a strengthening of the doctrine of international comity, calling for courts to give more deference to the interpretations of foreign states. We think these commenters are reading too much into the decision. Vitamin C can be harmonized with other cases involving foreign states’ interpretations of their own laws arising in different contexts. When read together, these cases instruct that courts considering whether to defer to a foreign state’s interpretation should engage in a task similar to that performed by courts considering U.S. federal agencies’ interpretations of federal statutes. The overall circumstances of each case are important, and various factors will direct where along a sliding scale of deference each case falls.

Second Circuit’s Decision in ‘Vitamin C’

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